The 'Seer'
by Komaira
Summary: First fanfic. Usual OC gets dropped into Fairy Tail universe drabble. Willow wakes to find herself in her favorite anime and everyone thinks she can see the future but she's really just read all the manga. WARNING. SPOILERS FOR MANGA.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER** : CHARACTERS AND MOST CONTENT NOT MINE. All characters except OC belong to Hiro Mashima.

The window was open and crickets chirped merrily outside it in the warm night air. A breeze gently shook the branches, the noise calming to the girl that lay on the bed. Her eyes were closed halfway as she lazily stared up at her ceiling in the darkness of her bedroom. She wished for sleep, prayed for it even. But like most nights, it wasn't easy for her to come by, if even found at all.

For Willow, insomnia was an everyday occurrence. Sleep was a commodity more precious than money in her world. She rolled over to look at her alarm clock, squinting at the red numbers that hurt her darkness accustomed eyes. 2:35 am. She sighed and rolled back over to face away from the clock, tucking her arm under her pillow and head, enjoying the cold that she found there as her eyelids slid closed.

In her mind, images took shape of her favorite anime, Fairy Tail. She replayed the events of the latest manga over and over in her head, trying to catch the little clues that Hiro Mashima had littered the story with. She'd felt like an absolute idiot when she didn't figure out "E.N.D." was Natsu sooner. She usually prided herself on seeing things like that long before the author revealed them. Mentally she shook her head at herself. _You're losing your edge_ , she thought. She squeezed her eyes closed once more and curled into more of a fetal position, feeling the beginnings of drowsiness in her limbs. She silently thanked whoever had been listening to her that night and relaxed a little, knowing sleep was on its way.

It seemed like only seconds before her body was claimed by glorious sleep. The next thing she knew something was poking at her arm. Painfully so. She brushed groggily at her arm, wondering if she'd fallen asleep on her phone or something. And where were her covers? She shivered as she reached down for the comforter, thinking she'd maybe kicked it off in her sleep. She didn't feel her sheets though. In fact, what she was laying on was spikey and poked her. And whatever was poking her was poking her arm that was exposed, so it wasn't her phone. She opened her eyes slightly, trying to distinguish what she was looking at before pushing her glasses back onto her nose, glad that she usually fell asleep with them on.

Green. Tons and tons of green. She blinked slowly. Her sheets were light blue, so why was she seeing bright green? She pushed herself up bit and looked down at what she was lying on. Grass. She was outside? How did she get outside? She had been in her bed, in her room, in her house.

She looked around a little more, finally noticing she wasn't alone. There were, in fact four people standing near her. With her sleep fogged eyes she only saw blobs for the moment. One was mostly red, one mostly blue, one mostly green and the other mostly dark with bright yellow hair. She pushed her glasses up onto her head for a moment and rubbed her eyes to clear away the crusties and hopefully refocus. When her glasses were firmly back on her nose she looked back up, seeing that person who was mostly dressed in dark blue had a stick in his hand and as she watched he poked her arm with it once more.

"OW! Hey, quit that!" she said, swiping angrily at the stick and glaring up at him. Why did he look familiar? She looked closer at him. Pinstriped shirt and a light blue skirt covering pants with a helmet and visor covering his face and head. Her eyes widened slightly and her eyes went to the belt buckle, looking for the mark that she knew would be there. The Fairy Tail guild mark. She smiled a bit as she recognized that this guy was cosplaying. "Nice cosplay," she said absentmindedly.

"Huh? Cosplay? Me? Nah not my thing. But there's a girl back at the guild that's really into it if that's your thing, toots," the man said, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as a huge grin split his face.

Damn the guy was good, he even had the tattoo on his tongue. She looked at the others, recognizing the rest of them almost instantly. All of their cosplay was really on point.

"Yea, sure, 'Bickslow'," she said with a snort.

Bickslow crouched and titled his head to the side as he pushed his visor up to get a better look at her. "How did you know my name?" he asked curiously.

Willow snorted again, "Oh come on. Fairy Tail is a very popular manga and anime. You can't honestly be surprised that someone recognized you?"

One of the other figures shifted in the corner of her vision and she looked up, focusing on the bright yellow of his hair and the scar that ran down the side of his face. He crossed his arms over his broad chest as he glared down at her, almost as if he hated her presence.

"What the hell is a 'manga'? Or an 'anime'? And why are you sleeping in the middle of our guilds training area?" Laxus asked her.

Willow looked around her, noticing for the first time that she was in fact in a field with training equipment. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion as she wondered yet again how she got here.

"Yo, toots! Focus would you?" Bickslow said, waving his hand in front of her face.

Willow pushed his hand away and looked back at the group, noticing that Freed and Evergreen were there as well. "How did I get here?" she asked quietly, fear rising inside her at the thought of having possibly been kidnapped. But why would these cosplayers kidnap her? It just didn't make sense.

Laxus raised an eyebrow, "You don't know how you got here? Seriously? You expect us to believe that you managed to get past all of the guilds defense lacrimas and you have no idea how you did it?"

Willow shook her head, her curly brown hair whipping gently at her face. "N-no," she said, a tremor in her voice from the fear and anxiety that was slowly making its way through her system. She noticed she was still in her night shirt that was, while huge on her, still barely made it to her mid-thigh. She squeaked gently and pulled the material farther down on her body, blushing hotly as she refused to meet their inquiring eyes.

Laxus sighed impatiently and grabbed her arm, dragging her to her feet and pulling her along after him. "I really don't care how you got here. I'll just let Gramps deal with you, we've got practice today," he growled as he stormed towards the huge building that loomed up in front of her.

"Ow, damn! Do you have to be so rough?" Willow whimpered as his hand squeezed tighter around her arm, all but bruising her. He was also a lot taller than she was so her arm was hoisted up at a weird angle.

"Might as well go along quietly," someone said from behind her and she turned her head to see that the rest of the Raijinshuu were following close behind. "He won't easy on you just because you're female," Freed continued, his eyes flat.

Willow looked to Evergreen, hoping maybe as a female she would take pity on her and say something to the big brute Laxus. But Evergreen had her fan up in front of her face and she was glaring at her as much as Laxus had been a few minutes before. Willow sighed and turned her head back to look up at the man, her pace almost a run to keep up with his long strides. He didn't even spare her a sideways glance as he continued into the guild.

She looked around her, taking in everything. Mirajane behind the counter. A pink haired Natsu fighting with Gray over near the other entrance. A red haired Erza eating cake at the counter as she talked with Lucy. Slowly, she was starting to realize, that maybe, just maybe, these weren't just cosplayers. This looked too realistic. Everyone was way too into their characters. Everyone looked too much like who they were supposed to be. And that's when it hit her. She was in Fiore. She was in the Fairy Tail guild hall and Laxus, THE Laxus was dragging her barely covered body up the stairs towards Master Makarov's office. She all but fainted.

Laxus pushed open the door to the Master's office and dragged her inside and all but threw her down in the chair in the corner of the room.

"Laxus! What is the meaning—Oh hello, and who might you be?" the short old man sitting on the desk popped up as his door had been thrown open.

"Master Makarov…" Willow said with some reverence. It was still slowly dawning on her that this was all very real. She gawked at the older man, her inner fangirl all but passed out from the happiness of where she was.

The Master looked at her quizzically before turning to his grandson and the Raijinshuu. "Laxus, do you care to explain why you decided to drag this poor young woman into my office in what seems to be her bed clothes?" the Master asked, his voice laced with a hard edge.

"I found her out in the training area, asleep. She won't tell me how she got past all the defenses we put up," Laxus stated as he crossed his arms over his chest, going back to glaring at her.

Willow yet again tugged at her too short nightshirt and stared at her very bare toes legs, unsure as to what answer she could give them.

"Master, even I could not detect what spell she used to let the lacrimas let her in," Freed stated as he followed the rest of the team in and shut the door quietly behind him.

Willow peaked up at the Rune mage from behind the curly brown shade that was her hair. She'd always found him handsome in the series and he was no less so in person. Unfortunately, he didn't even spare a glance her way.

"Even Freed couldn't detect your magic, eh?" Master Makarov asked quietly, turning back to look at her as he hopped down from his desk and walked closer to her. "Do you have anything to say for yourself young lady?"

Willow realized she'd not even tried to defend herself up until this point, her mind still in shock from waking up in a different place surrounded by characters from her favorite anime. "Master," she said timidly, "I'm sorry, but I'm just as shocked as you are to find myself where I am. When I went to sleep last night, I was in my own bed, I promise you. I have absolutely no idea how I got where I was. I can't even use magic so it's not like I used any on the lacrimas," she told him.

"That's a lie," Bickslow growled harshly, "I can see your soul, and I can see that you can use magic. Don't lie to the Master."

Willow flinched and recoiled back into her chair, shaking her head violently. "I promise you I can't. I wouldn't know how. There's no such thing as magic where I come from!" she denied vehemently.

"Where you come from? And just where is that exactly?" Master Makarov asked her gently, his hands behind his back as he stared at her curiously.

"A place called earth," Willow said staring at the wooden floor, "Earth is not the same thing as Earthland. Close, but not the same. It's. . .a different realm. There, Fairy Tail is just make believe, a fantasy dreamed up by somebody named Hiro Mashima. On Earth, that's reality. Magic doesn't exist along with Fairy Tail and everyone in it."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Oh lord, I have 2 followers. Thank you, you lovely, lovely people.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail. At all. All characters and everything cannon belong to Hiro Mashima.

The Master looked at her with his head tilted to the side. "I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by that, young lady. Fairy Tail isn't real?" he asked gently.

Willow shook her head. "In my realm, my world, Fairy Tail is just that. A fairy tale. Made up by someone who lives in Japan, half a world away from where I live. We don't have magic. The year is 2017. We don't have lacrimas or dragons. In fact dragons are a myth, let alone having Dragon Slayers," she said, her voice choked. Her anxiety was starting to take hold. They'd never believe her, or they'd think her crazy and she'd be thrown in jail and she'd never see the light of day again.

Master Makarov thought silently for a minute. "How can you prove this? Obviously you know a lot about 'our world'," he said, making air quotes to emphasize his point, "How do we know you're telling the truth and not just trying to pull the wool over our eyes so that we will let you leave without telling us how you got past our defenses?"

Willow teared up a bit; she couldn't help it. She was scared of what could happen if they didn't believe her. Here she was thrust into a fantasy world and she had no idea how it had happened. She was still in her nightshirt, which was only a huge shirt to begin with, and she had no defenses of any kind. Not that she believed anyone in Fairy Tail would actually hurt her. "I-I know that the First Master is your Godmother, and that your father's name was Yuri. He and First started Fairy Tail…" she said timidly gauging Makarov's reaction to her statement. At his still skeptical look she continued, "I also know that the First Master isn't actually buried on Tenrou Island. She isn't buried at all. Tenrou is just where she was born and grew up."

Master Makarov's face took on a slightly panicked expression at the mention of the First Master not being buried. "H-how do you know all that?" he asked her angrily, "No one knows that except the First Master and I."

Laxus and the Raijinshuu looked surprised at what she had said, and she knew it was because most of the information was new to them. _Oh well,_ Willow thought, _this shouldn't affect the story line too much. I don't want to accidentally alter anything._

Willow twisted her hands over and over in her lap. "Like I said, in my world, Fairy Tail is a story someone came up with. I've read far into the future and I know what's going to happen. Even where the First Master is kept," she said, looking down at her hands.

Master Makarov paced slowly in front of her. "Don't say another word, do you hear me?" he growled low, and at her hasty nod he continued, "No one knows about First. There's no way for anyone alive to know so that lends some credit to your story. . ." he stopped and looked up at her, "But I don't trust you. I don't know whether you were sent here to harm us or to help us. What are your intentions towards Fairy Tail?"

Willow jerked slightly in her seat. "Intentions? Sir, I love Fairy Tail. I follow the story line very closely. I would never harm the guild or anyone in it!" she said vehemently, all but shouting.

The Master looked back to Bickslow, the man would be able to see it in her soul if she had been lying. The man discreetly shook his head, letting Makarov know that he couldn't see any sort of deception in her soul as she had made the statement. Willow's soul would have gone darker during the lie as lying was wrong and it corrupted and muddied the soul just a bit each time it was done.

Master Makarov turned back to the girl and crossed his arms over his chest, looking her over. "Laxus, I want you and the Raijinshuu to keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't get herself into trouble while she's here. If she is telling the truth, then she is far from home and it is our duty to protect her as she did fall into our laps. If she is lying and able to keep it from us, then the Raijinshuu should be able to handle her," the Master stated before climbing back onto his desk and sitting down quietly.

Laxus groaned and went to contest his Grandfather but Makarov sent him a look that had the younger man shutting his mouth quickly and giving Willow a hard glare. "Freed, you look after her," he barked before turning on his heal and walking quickly out of the room.

Freed looked outraged at this turn of events and more or less looked like he wanted to contradict what his leader had said. Willow thanked whomever was listening though, that he didn't. But he did send her a glare that her scooting back in her chair to get away from him. Willow thought Freed was handsome, especially when he was smiling, but a mad Freed was downright terrifying.

Freed marched over towards her and hauled her up by her arm in the same fashion Laxus had earlier and started to leave the room with her in tow. Willow kept her mouth shut this time, thinking that he would be no less cruel than Laxus had been.

"Freed, why don't you see if Mirajane has some clothing that might fit the gal? She might feel better with something more on," Master said kindly from his position atop his desk.

Freed nodded silently and shot her a look that she interpreted for her to keep quiet as he led her out of the room and down the stairs.

Willow couldn't help her curious eyes as she looked around her, taking everything in and all but fainting from excitement. Erza had left her cake behind and now had both Gray and Natsu by the ear, one in each hand, and was scolding them about damaging the guild yet again. Lucy stood nearby, her arms crossed over her ample chest as she waited for Erza to finish. Over in the corner she could see Team Shadow Gear joined by Gajeel and Pantherlily sitting in one booth. Levy, of course, had a book in her hands and her gale-force reading glasses perched atop her nose, surrounded by the men and a mountain of books on either side of her.

Willow spun her head around as Freed came to a stop in front of the counter and Willow couldn't help but gawk at Mirajane. It was still new to her brain that this was all real and that she wasn't actually dreaming.

"Close your mouth, you look like a dead fish," Freed scolded harshly as he looked to Mirajane, "Do you think you might have some spare clothing that might fit this girl, Ms. Mira?" he asked calmly.

Mirajane looked her up and down and grinned happily, bobbing her head up and down. "Of course, she's about Lisanna's size so she should have plenty of clothes that no longer fit her. Where'd you find this girl anyway, Freed?" Mira asked as she stepped out from behind the counter and led the way out of the guild, Freed and Willow trailing behind.

Freed stared straight ahead, never once glancing at her as he explained how they had found her on the training field and how Master Makarov wanted to keep an eye on Willow as she had 'amnesia' and didn't know where she was from or how she got to the guild. The lie came a little too easily to Freed and she wondered how long he'd been working on how to explain her presence to the guild.

"Oh the poor thing!" Mira lamented as she looked back at Willow, "Freed, you should probably loosen your grip, her arm will probably be black and blue by tomorrow at this point."

Freed stiffened slightly before noticeably taking Mirajane's instruction and Willow could lower her arm just a bit so that it was no longer hiked up at a weird angle.

"Thank you," Willow offered, to which mage she didn't know.

Freed raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing. Mira shot her a brilliant smile over her shoulder.

"You're welcome. So what's your name? You've been so quiet back there," Mira inquired, leading them through the streets of Magnolia towards the home that she shared with her brother and sister.

"Willow," Willow said quietly, "Just. . .Willow."

Freed mentally chided himself. Just because the girl had shown up here with an outlandish story did not mean he was no less obligated to be a gentleman. He should have remembered to ask her name. He did wonder at the lack of a last name but figured it didn't really matter for the time being. If she didn't want to give a last name, that was none of his business.

Mirajane shot her another look over her shoulder before stepping up the stairs to a huge mansion and unlocking the door and leading the pair inside. "Freed, why don't you wait down here while I go and help Willow get changed? I'm pretty sure the girl would like some privacy from a male's prying eyes," Mira said sweetly, offering her hand out to Willow.

Freed let Willow go with a curt nod and a glare that promised retribution should she try anything while she was out of sight of the Raijinshuu. Willow swallowed and nodded at him as Mirajane tugged her up the stairs towards the youngest Strauss' room, knocking gently before making her way inside.

"Lisanna," Mirajane called happily, "We have a guest and I was hoping she could have some of the clothes that you no longer wear."

Lisanna had been laying on her bed reading a magazine when Mirajane and Willow had walked in but sat up and smiled at them at Mira's words. "Yea sure, I'm pretty sure I've got tons she can wear!" Lisanna said excitedly as she bounded off her bed and went to her closet.

Willow stood there for a good thirty minutes as the women tried to find suitable outfits for her. It was a good thing she had about the same measurements as Lisanna, if not a little shorter in height. They found several things that Lisanna no longer wanted that would fit her just fine. Finally, they led her to a bathroom where she could change. Quickly, she pulled her nightshirt over her head and got dressed in the borrowed bra, shorts and t-shirt. Lisanna had even been cool enough to give her a new pair of socks and an old pair of her sneakers that somewhat resembled her converses back home. Afterward, she exited the bathroom with some trepidation, wondering if she looked okay in the simple light green top and shorts.

Mirajane put a finger to her lips and tapped gently, examining Willow from head to toe. "Well," she said after a moment of contemplation, "It will do for now. We need to take you shopping if you're going to stay close to the guild. I certainly wouldn't want to have only one pair of underwear." The girls giggled at that thought and Willow blushed heavily.

Mirajane had explained to Lisanna while Willow was getting dressed that Willow had amnesia and wasn't sure where her home was. Willow figured that it was the best excuse that Freed could have come up with in such short time. It wasn't even that big of a lie. She didn't know where her home was.

Mirajane led her back down the stairs towards Freed, rattling on about taking her shopping later after she closed the guild, or possibly the next day when she could have someone else cover the bar and kitchen.

Willow wasn't really paying too much attention to her words. She was a little too focused on what Freed would think of her outfit. She wasn't used to wearing such short shorts; they didn't even make it halfway down her thighs! And the top she had been given was. . .flattering to say the least as it showed off her small stomach and well-rounded hips and medium sized chest. Willow wasn't complaining. She knew other girls had more to work with but she was happy with what the universe had given her.

Her eyes were trained on Freed as Mirajane called his name and he turned to examine Willow. Whatever Willow had been expecting, she was vastly disappointed. He gave her a sparse once over and turned, expecting her to follow him as he said a quick thanks to Mira and exited the mansion.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Yay! Four people following the story. I didn't think I'd get that many. Thank you for doing so! It makes me feel like someone actually wants to read what my mind dreams up.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing except the OC. All original characters and cannon events belong to Hiro Mashima.

Willow's head hung low as she followed Freed. He didn't need to even keep a hold on her arm; he knew she would follow. He figured that there must be some truth to her story, otherwise she wouldn't be keeping the pretense up this long. He would have seen signs of some ulterior motive by now.

With that thought came the thought of how much of an ass he'd been towards her. If she was telling the truth then it hadn't been her fault she'd landed in their training field and messed up their training session for the day. Freed blushed slightly as he chided himself for his behavior and dropped back a bit to walk beside the girl and she looked up at him slightly before looking back down at her feet.

Freed sighed and reached up to rub his temples gently. He was getting mad at himself and with that came a headache. "I'm sorry for our rude behavior," he started, "But we had to be cautious. Your story does seem very. . . "

"Implausible? Crazy? Downright insane?" Willow provided with a small smile.

Freed let out a small laugh and nodded, "Yes. Insane would be the correct adjective." He paused, trying to think of how else to proceed with their conversation so that it wasn't so awkward.

"May I ask, what year is it? Or better yet. . .what was the last arc that you went through?" Willow asked, looking up at him as they walked through the town.

Freed raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean by 'arc'?" he asked slowly, puzzling over her question.

Willow blushed and bit her lip, searching for the right words. "I guess. . .what was the last big battle that Fairy Tail had? How long ago was the seven-year jump on Tenrou Island?" she rephrased.

Freed blinked at her, though he wasn't sure why. It stood to reason that if she **was** from a different realm where their lives were just stories, then she would know everything about Fairy Tail and all they had been through in the past couple years. He groaned inwardly. That also meant that she knew about Laxus trying to take over Fairy Tail. Master had been very secretive of the whole situation and relatively no one outside their guild knew about that failed takeover. "We just got back from Tenrou Island about two weeks ago where we had battled against Acnologia. He was a—"

"A black dragon, who at one point was a Dragon Slayer magic user who let the dragon take him over," Willow interrupted him.

Freed's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Rude much?" he asked as his brain tried to comprehend this new information.

Willow blushed heavily and mentally cursed herself. "Sorry. And forget that last bit. Fairy Tail isn't supposed to know that just yet," she said quickly before continuing, "But if you just got back then that means it's around year 791. . . and the Grand Magic Games are about to take place!" she finished excitedly.

Freed quirked an eyebrow at her. "Why are you so happy about that? It's not like Fairy Tail will be taking part. We don't have one of our strongest members. Master Makarov won't let Laxus rejoin the guild anytime soon," he scoffed.

Willow knew exactly when she was and smiled to herself, knowing how she could prove her story to him. "Freed, listen to me. Master Makarov is going to name Gildarts the next Master. But Gildarts is going to hand it back to him and go back out traveling again. And before he does that he's going to let Laxus rejoin the guild. And then Fairy Tail **will** enter the Grand Magic Games."

Freed had to hold back his initial reaction of wanting to role his eyes at the girl. What she proposed was just too outlandish to even possibly come to light. "Mhmm," he said noncommittally before turning his eyes from her to the path that led to his home. He led the way up the stairs to the modest two story home before rewriting the runes to allow her passage inside.

Willow stepped through the doorway after he ushered her inside and stood to look around her. Freed's home was oddly. . .homey. It wasn't extravagant like some people would believe. It was cozy. There was a fireplace in the living room where overly plush sofas surrounded a coffee table to the right of her. To the left was an open doorway through which she could see was a library that held a huge mahogany desk. She walked to the doorway to peek inside and was greeted by the sight of what was probably thousands of books that lined the floor to ceiling shelves all around the room.

Willow felt a light touch to the back of her arm and she turned to look at Freed, a small smile on his face as he gently motioned with a tilt of his head for her to follow him. He led her through the pristine kitchen that was at the back of the small home, sort of hidden by the curved stairs that started in the foyer and led upstairs in a gently slope.

"I'll take you upstairs in a little while but I assume that you are hungry as you haven't eaten since we woke you out on the field," Freed said lightly as he took off his jacket and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows.

Willow blinked at him for a minute, forgetting her words as she watched him take out his low pony tail to tie his hair up farther on his head in a higher, tight pony tail to keep it out of his way. "Uh. . ." was the only sound she was capable of making as she stared at the handsome green haired man.

Freed smirked to himself as he saw her reaction. It wasn't often that women noticed him. Usually everyone was more interested in Laxus and Freed definitely paled in comparison to his leader. Most women usually thought him gay as well so that didn't help his chances. In fact, though he was attracted to men, he liked women as well, and that was a fact that most people failed to realize.

He chuckled a bit and gathered the makings of a sandwich along with an apple for her, figuring it was a safe bet. Freed wondered for a moment what other differences their two realms had. What kinds of food did they eat? If her year was 2017 like she had said, what advancements had been made?

Unbeknownst to Freed, he had stopped and was staring hard at the sandwich, lost deep in thought as Willow regained her senses. He only snapped out of his thought process when she reached over and slowly pulled the plate out of his line of sight. He blinked as he looked up at her, slowly coming back to reality as she tucked into the simple lunch he had made.

"So, tell me," Freed said as he grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the other side of the table at which she had taken a seat sometime while he had been making the sandwich. "Is this normal food for you?" he asked, figuring it would be best to start slow and work up the bigger questions he had for her. Freed absentmindedly wished for a pen and notepad so that he could write her responses down. Learning more about her world might give him insight as to why she was here in the first place.

Willow swallowed the last of the sandwich down before answering. "Sandwiches? Yea, it's a pretty standard food. Normal food though. . ." she said slowly as she thought back to all the things she'd seen people eat in the manga and anime, "I really don't think there's much of a change in our diets. We have similar foods from what I can remember. Though, our cake's probably have a ton more sugar than y'alls."

It was Freed's turn to blink at her in confusion. "'Y'alls'?" he asked slowly, trying to decipher the word.

Willow blushed hotly. "Uh, sorry, my southern roots kinda showing there. It's slang for 'you all'," she explained as she passed the uneaten apple back and forth between her hands nervously.

Freed nodded as he took in what she had said, storing away the small bits of information she gave away about herself for later use. "You said your world didn't have lacrimas. Do you have something similar?"

Willow laughed as she thought about the best way to describe a cell phone to the man. "Yea, we have tons of tech," she grinned then continued at Freed's look of confusion. "Tech, short for technology. We don't use lacrimas to call each other over long distances but we use phones and cell phones. Some of them don't have picture abilities but they're working on it."

"Would you be willing to draw one for me?" Freed asked excitedly, all but bouncing in his seat.

"Sure," Willow replied, wondering about his mental state as the man dashed off to find pen and paper for her.

When he claimed his seat once more, he sat the needed supplies in front of her. She got to work drawing her iPhone. She had to admit it was a bit clumsy, as, though she looked at the item everyday of her life, she was having a hard time picturing the little device that her whole world was stored on. When Willow was finished, she slid the picture over to Freed and watched as his shoulders drooped a little. At her small giggle, he looked up at her.

"Sorry it's not more impressive. The outside is very sleek and minimal in design. But it's the power behind it, what you can do with the thing that is far more impressive," Willow said with a grin.

That launched Freed into a series of never ending questions about her phone and its capabilities. Those were the easy questions. He started to ask how it all worked but she had to be honest and disclose the fact that she wasn't that tech savvy to know how it did all that it could.

Freed looked disappointed at the thought before cheering right back up and asking her question after question. Sometimes he wanted to know what the cities were like, what kind of advancements had been made in buildings. He asked about differences in modes of transportations. Freed's eyes shone with excitement as Willow tried to explain about airplanes and how similar they were to the huge balloon Blue Pegasus had.

The entire afternoon was spent in a similar fashion, with Freed's insatiable mind coming up with question after question about her world. At some point, they had made their way into the library to take more comfortable chairs. Freed had to admit to himself that he did enjoy talking with the girl and that, if this other world really didn't exist, she had a very creative mind to come up with all the things she did.

Freed's questions lasted through dinner and long into the night. And for once Willow felt herself tiring and her eyelids drooping in search for sleep. When she yawned for what seemed the millionth time, Freed finally took notice and stopped his questions. He led her up the stairs to the room that would be hers for the night.

"Um, do you think I could possibly borrow a large shirt to sleep in?" Willow asked before Freed could leave her for the night, her cheeks hot with embarrassment.

"Of course," he replied with a small smile, "I'll be right back." He left her door open just a crack as he walked towards his bedroom down the hall.

Willow looked around the room and saw the very comfy looking bed. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to sit down on it just for a minute she cross the room and ended up stretching out across the plush mattress, a sigh of contentment leaving her as her eyelids drooped closed.

"I'm not sure if this is what you were looking for exactly," Freed said as he entered the room, his eyes trained on the shirt he was holding up for her to see. "I was trying to find something like what we found. . . you. . ." Freed's words trailed off as he looked up to see Willow, sleeping soundly on the bed. He smiled a bit, thinking that she was a pretty girl, if one could look past her insane story.

And right before his eyes, the sleeping brunette disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** A big shout out to all 7 followers and a huge THANK YOU to both people who reviewed ( _scaryashmonster_ and _TitanXyz_ ). I can't always promise a chapter a day but all the new views and followers keep me going :)

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing except my OC. All characters and cannon events belong to Hiro Mashima, I'm just borrowing them.

Willow's eyelids were so heavy, she had only shut them for a second. Or so she thought. When she finally was strong enough to open her eyelids, it was bright. Way too bright to be inside a room where she had fallen asleep with just the small bedside lamp on. And the sheets . . . were blue?

She sat up quickly and looked around. She was back in her room, on Earth.

Willow fell back onto the bed and squeezed her eyes closed as tears pricked at the corners of them. Why did she feel like crying? Was it because she was so happy there? Why was she so happy? It was just an anime, a manga. Was it all just a very vivid dream?

Slowly, she opened her eyes once more and slid out of her bed, making her way to her bathroom to put some semblance of 'togetherness' to her appearance before she went upstairs. She didn't even know what day it was. Or what time it was.

Willow trudged up the stairs from the basement where her room was and found her mom sitting at the dining room table, working on some paper of some sort.

"Ah, you're finally awake, sleepy head!" her mother said, smiling at Willow as she pushed a plate of buttered toast in Willow's direction.

Willow grabbed a piece absentmindedly and nibbled on a corner as she looked towards the clock. 12:04pm, and her mom was acting like nothing was wrong. _It must still be Saturday,_ she thought, _if mom didn't even notice I was gone. It must have all happened in one night. So was it really a dream then?_

Willow took a seat at the table across from her mom and looked out the window that showed their backyard where her brother and dad were working on his motorbike. She sighed heavily and thought about what to do. If it had all been a dream . . . she'd only see Freed in her dreams again. If it was just a dream then nothing had changed, she still had class at the local community college on Monday, and work every other night the next week.

But if it hadn't been a dream, if it had been real, how did she get back? If it had been real how did she get there in the first place? And why had she been sent back to her world so quickly? The trick seemed for her to sleep. Go to sleep in her own world and she'd wake up in Fiore. Go to sleep in Fiore, she'd wake up back here on Earth.

Willow sighed and finished the toast before going back downstairs to her room. Her room was messy and she hated it being that way.

Her day passed quietly, uneventfully. She cleaned her room and ate her meals in silence. Her parents must have noticed that she was quieter than before but they didn't say anything to her and she was grateful for that. That night she made sure to wear proper pajamas to bed, pants included, just in case she woke back up in Fiore.

But when she opened her eyes again after a measily 3 hours of sleep, she was still in her room, on Earth.

Back in Fiore, Freed had started to panic. The girl had just disappeared, right as he was watching her. _**How?**_ _ **She had been asleep so she couldn't have been using magic,**_ Freed thought anxiously as he tore down the stairs of his home and rushed towards the outskirts of Magnolia, where Laxus lived. It was late and his leader wouldn't be happy about being woken up but this couldn't really wait until morning to be explained.

As Freed pounded on the door, a dozen different things flitted through his mind of how she had accomplished being there one second and gone the next while she was asleep. She could have used rune magic, set on a timer, to take her away and she just hadn't planned on him coming in at that time or falling asleep. Freed shook that thought away; he was sure her magic wasn't as dark as rune magic, he would have been able to feel that.

Freed was stopped mid-thought as Laxus wrenched open his front door with only his sleep pants and a deep scowl on. "This better be life or death, or it will be for you," Laxus growled as he glared at Freed.

"She's gone," Freed said simply, trying to keep the panic from his voice.

Laxus yawned, "Who's gone? And so what? Couldn't that have waited till a reasonable hour sometime tomorrow afternoon?"

Freed breathed deep so that he wasn't panicking so bad, but the thought was still there in the back of his mind. "Willow, the girl we found out on the training field. She's gone. She was asleep on my guest bed one second and then just _gone_ the next," Freed reiterated.

Laxus' eyes widened noticeably and he cursed before opening his door even farther and letting the smaller man enter from the cold night. "Get the lacrima, get Evergreen and Bickslow up. We have to find out where she went," he commanded, turning to go back to his room and put a shirt on.

Freed stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, "Sir, with all due respect, what could they do? If she was in front of me one second and then gone, we have no idea where she could have disappeared to. I watched as she was there one second and then I was alone the next."

Laxus eyed him. "Why in the world were you so close to her as she was sleeping anyway to know all this?" he asked low, suspicion rising in his voice.

Freed blushed bright red and looked away, dropping his hand from the taller man's shoulder. "It wasn't anything like that I swear. I went to go get her something to sleep in and I had just gotten back to the room when I noticed she was sleeping. And then, like I said, she disappeared," Freed explained quickly.

"Uh-huh…" Laxus said lazily before grinning and turning away, "Fine don't call the team. But go home. There's nothing to be done for the moment. If she did go back to her 'realm' then there's nothing we can really do. And maybe she'll stay there this time. If she comes back, we'll deal with her then. If she's still in Fiore, she'll turn up sooner or later, and again, we'll deal with her then. For now, I'm going back to bed."

Freed nodded absently at his leader's back and made his way back home, sighing heavily the whole way. He'd been enjoying the girl, getting to know her. It was unusual for someone to take interest in him, the quiet bookworm, and he liked feeling as if she depended on him, which she kind of had.

The next morning, the Raijinshuu met with the Master to fill him in on what had happened. Master Makarov was, unfortunately of the same mind as Laxus. If the girl came back, they'd deal with her then, if not, there was nothing more they could do.

Freed felt lost. He wanted the girl to come back and he wanted to learn more about her very different realm. At that thought, he mentally chided himself. _The girl could still be completely insane and here I go jumping off the deep end for her._ Freed shook himself and made his way down to the guild's basement where the library was kept. He knew his vast collection wouldn't carry anything on what he was looking for so the guild was the best place to start looking. After picking a select few titles, he made his way over to his favorite overstuffed reading chair in the corner and began his research.

Days passed in a blur for Willow as she went to her classes and went to work, each night coming home and doing her best to pass out. The few times she was able to, she still woke up back on Earth. She was starting to wonder if it all had been just a very realistic dream and she was slowly going insane. But there was nothing more she could do. So every night she made sure to wear proper pajamas before crawling into bed and praying to anyone that could hear her that she would wake up back in Fiore in Freed's guest bedroom.

It had been about a week since the incident and Willow slowly made her way downstairs to her room after getting off of work later than she had expected. All she wanted to do was get off her feet and lie down. She had all but accepted that she was never getting that dream back and that Freed had only been a small part of her overly active, sleep deprived brain.

Willow collapsed onto her bed, grabbing her stuffed plushie Happy and squeezing him to her chest, trying not to cry. She was depressed here on Earth. Had been for a long time. It didn't seem like she fit in anywhere. She had no real friends to speak off and she was going to a community college, living in her parent's basement. And you could forget the thought of a love-life. The day she had spent with Freed was the closest she'd ever gotten to going on an actual date.

She rolled onto hers side and stared at the red numbers of her clock as she toed off her work shoes and curled up around the stuffed animal. It was only 11:30 pm. She still could get a good night's rest if she tried hard enough.

She closed her eyes and replayed her time in Fiore over in her mind for what seemed like the millionth time. Bickslow had said that she was able to use magic so why on Earth couldn't she use it right then to bring herself back to Fiore? Willow imagined a rope between the two worlds and herself grabbing hold of one end and slowly tugging, hand over hand, as she brought Fiore just a little closer to her with each pull.

Even the thought of doing so was so mentally draining that she had to let the image go and open her eyes. Slowly, she got dressed for bed and crawled under the covers, not even trying to hope that she'd be back in Fiore when she awoke. It was time she let that dream go as she was never getting it back. She needed to live in the real world and live her life. As her eyes closed, Willow squeezed the little stuffed animal just a little tighter, glad that she would still get to see her favorite characters every time she opened one of the manga's.

Freed was near the point of passing out. Throughout the entirety of the Grand Magic Games he had been researching what would have cause their two realms to have opened up in such a way that Willow had been able to pass through.

Long gone was the thought that she was crazy or even wasn't telling the truth about who she was. It had come to pass just like she said it would. Master Makarov had indeed named Gildarts the next Master and he had let Laxus rejoin before running away to 'travel' again, giving Makarov the title of Master back. And within a few days Fairy Tail had entered the Grand Magic Games to try and win their title back from Saber Tooth. When he had gone to Laxus with the revelation that the girl had been in fact, truthful, and was in all likelihood from a different realm, his leader had just shrugged. She'd been gone for nearly two weeks with no one having seen her, so she most likely wasn't coming back. In Laxus' mind, he had better things to think about, like actually winning back Fairy Tail's reputation.

Freed chewed on his lower lip as he watched the battle between Lucy and Minerva. It was no secret that the Celestial Mage didn't see herself as a strong Mage and her own judgement of herself was holding her back as Minerva took control of their underwater battle.

Laxus had all but ordered Freed to take a break as he was completely exhausted and hadn't really been paying all that much attention to the games. Freed had reluctantly put down his research and gone with his leader so that he could support the guild, knowing he was only driving himself mad with his near incessant research.

Later that night Freed had run into Rufus Lore from Sabertooth at one of the local bars where he happened to go for dinner. The two had chatted for a while and Rufus happened to mention that Sting's exceed, Lector had been vaporized by the guild master earlier that evening, so there was now more at stake for the guild to win. Freed left the man with a heavy heart, knowing there was no way Fairy Tail could let them win just so that Minerva would bring back the Exceed for the Dragon Slayer.

The Rune Mage had crawled into bed, his hands tucked behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling, contemplating Fairy Tail's next move, when there was a sudden weight beside him. Freed whipped his head to the side, spying a familiar head of curly brown hair.

"Willow?"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Yay! Thank you to my now 8 beautiful/handsome followers! Also, I'm upping the rating from T to M, just because I don't want to take any chances.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own anything but the OC. All cannon characters and events belong to Hiro Mashima.

"Willow?" Freed asked incredulously as he scrambled to sit up, staring at the girl that had appeared on the bed beside him.

Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be clutching a stuffed version of the blue Exceed. She groaned gently as he called her name.

Freed grabbed up a plain white t-shirt and pulled it over his head, figuring it was best to be at least somewhat decent before he woke her. He sat on the edge of the bed and reached over to Willow, shaking her shoulder gently.

"Willow? It's Freed. Please wake up," he called to her softly. The girl groaned in her sleep and tried to shrug his hand off but he kept shaking her gently. Finally, after about a minute, she blinked open her eyes wearily. Glassy eyes trailed over him before she smiled and reached out to touch his unbound green hair.

"Love the color," she said lazily, smiling even more as she rubbed a lock of it between her fingers.

Freed blushed hotly and gently took her hand away from his hair. "Willow, you're back in Fiore, please wake up," he said squeezing her hand gently.

What had possessed him to be so gentle with this woman he didn't know. He'd spent the past two weeks nearly obsessing about getting her back and he didn't know why. He'd only spent a day with her so why did she enchant him so? He shook the question away, deciding to figure that out later.

Willow was in a wonderful dream. Here she was in bed, with Freed, beautiful, gorgeous, _hot_ Freed sitting here on the edge of her bed in only a t-shirt and boxers. And he'd let her play with his hair. She grinned to herself as he took her hand in his. He was staring at her intently. She wanted her hand back so she could brush away the hair that always covered the right side of his face so that she could look at the beautiful eye behind it.

"Mmmm, hi," she said sleepily, before giggling to herself. _Smooth_ , she thought, _good thing it's only a dream_.

Freed blushed even more, not exactly knowing why. He shook her again, a little more forcefully, trying to get her to wake up completely. "Come on, I don't have all night," he said gruffly.

Willow blinked as her eyebrows drew together in confusion. This was her dream so why wasn't Freed being sweet like he was a minute ago. She wanted that Freed back. As her eyes readjusted, she realized she wasn't in her room, her room back home didn't have a fireplace in it. Willow sat up quickly and looked around, not recognizing the plain wooden structured room around her.

Realization dawned and she blushed beet red as her head turned to look at Freed, her eyes meeting his. "I am so sorry," she said softly, hugging her plush to her chest as if it were a shield that could protect her from his ire.

Freed sighed and pushed his hand through his hair, unintentionally giving her a glimpse of the eye that he always kept hidden. "Well at least you're away now," he said before grinning, "Welcome back though."

Willow relaxed a bit as she realized he wasn't mad at her and smiled back at him. "Thanks," she said gently, "How long was I gone?" She looked around once more. This definitely wasn't his home. So where had she landed this time?

"About two weeks, it's nearing the end of the Grand Magic Games," Freed said as he blew out a small puff of air, "What you said, about Gildarts, and Laxus . . . you were right."

"Pffft, of course I was," Willow said with a laugh, turning back to smile at him, "Like I said, in my world, this has already happened. Like 4 or 5 arcs ago." Her smile slowly faded though as she remembered what had transpired at the end of the Grand Magic Games and her hand shot out, covering Freed's on the bed. "Did Sabertooth's Master die yet?" Willow asked, a slight panic to her voice.

Freed blinked. "Yes . . . right after he killed Lector. Earlier tonight in fact . . ." he said slowly, watching the girl carefully.

" _Sugar Honey Ice Tea!_ " Willow spat and quickly got off the bed and crossed the room to the small window, looking out. What should she do? If she told them what was going to happen, she could change the future. Then again, it was a story in her world, so did that mean that no matter what, events would always be the same? Willow was torn on what to do. On one hand, no one got hurt in the end and Fairy Tail had made it out alright. On the other hand . . . What was the other hand? No one died, everyone was fine in the end. What would she accomplish by telling them of the battle that was to come?

Freed watched her, taking note for the first time of her appearance and . . . lack of what she was wearing. In her realm, the white tank top and matching cotton sleep shorts had been perfect for going to sleep in the hot summer. She'd also pulled her hair up into a high pony tail to keep it off her neck as she slept. Here in Fiore . . . it wasn't as racy as some of the things Lucy wore regularly but it still caught Freed's attention more than the blonde Celestial Mage's outfits ever had.

He coughed and put the back of his hand up to his nose to make sure he hadn't started bleeding. "What's wrong?" he asked, getting up from the bed to stand beside her at the window. He felt his cheeks flare a bit as she turned to look up at him. How had he never noticed she was smaller than him, and such a comfortable height distance it was. _Her height is perfect for kissing_ , he thought absentmindedly, before shaking himself. Now was not the time to be thinking of such things; that was a dangerous path with them both only in their nightclothes.

"I . . ." Willow began as she looked up at him, pausing for a moment to admire him before continuing, "I can't really say. I don't want to alter anything . . ."

Freed stiffened as he looked down at her. "Do we need to worry? Will someone be gravely injured?" he asked, trying to keep his emotions in check. There was too much going on. His attraction to her and her obvious attraction to him needed to be kept in check for the moment. If how she was reacting was any clue, something bad was going to happen.

Willow turned and placed her hands behind her butt, leaning back against the wall as she looked out in the distance through the window. "People will be injured, but to my knowledge, no one . . . well . . . no. Someone will die," she thought aloud, trying to remember all that had happened. Tenrou Island and the end of the Grand Magic Games had never been her favorite arcs.

Freed cursed audibly and paced away from her, going to his bag and dragging on a pair of sleep pants. Why he hadn't realized his state of undress in front of her before he didn't know. But he had more important things to do. He needed to alert the Master and Laxus. They needed to take precautions.

"Freed, wait," Willow said as she caught his arm before he could cross to the door.

"Why?" he asked, "We need to tell the others. If someone died in the . . ." Freed struggled to come up with an accurate description for what she did. It wasn't exactly seeing the future if it was a book in another realm, was it? "If someone died in your prediction, then we need to tell the Master so that he may take steps to avoid it," he finished.

Willow tilted her head as she thought about it. "Alright, but we should only tell Laxus, Master Makarov and the First Master about it for now, otherwise, it could impact who actually dies," she said letting go of his arm.

Freed nodded, not even asking how she knew the First Master was there as he led the way out of the room and down the hall to where the leader of the Raijinshuu was staying. He knocked on the door and waited, hearing a rustle of sheets and whispers through the paper-thin walls of the Inn.

"Five bucks says that's either Cana or Mirajane . . ." Willow said under her breath with a small laugh.

Freed jerked and looked down at the woman in surprise. _What in the world possessed her to say that?_ But his attention was jerked back up when the door in front of him opened suddenly and his leader's frame filled the doorway.

"This is becoming a very bad habit, Freed." Laxus said simply.

Willow heard a giggle come from inside the room and turned her head to the side to look towards the bed. Mirajane sat there, holding the sheets up to her chest, her naked form clear by the discarded clothing on the floor. Willow grinned and mentally high-fived herself. _Maybe my CanaxBacchus ship is still sound then._

Freed didn't even blink at the giggle, trying to focus on the task at hand. "Willow has reappeared and this time she says someone will die," he stated simply.

Laxus straightened and looked down at the girl who had straightened her frame as well and was looking up at him. The longer he stared at her, the more she wanted to hide. Freed felt her slide behind him and grasp a small handful of his shirt for protection, her eyes just barely peaking over his shoulder.

Laxus sighed and slipped back inside the room to grab his coat. When he exited the room, closing the door behind him, he looked at Willow and Freed, expecting them to follow him as he led the way down to his grandfather's room.

Once Master Makarov and the First Master were gathered from their respective rooms, Freed explained Willow's reappearance and her prediction.

"Just like last time she still says she's from a different realm and that she know's what's going to happen to us because over there we are nothing but a story," Laxus scoffed.

"Yes, but she very accurately predicted that Master would try to pass the title of Master off to Guildarts," Freed said, but Laxus let out a snort.

"I told that to Freed before I left," Willow stated, backing Freed up.

"And just why did you leave in the first place, child?" Master Makarov asked her.

"I was wondering that myself," Laxus added for good measure.

Willow swallowed and wished she could hide back behind Freed again. "It wasn't like I chose to leave. I fell asleep and wound up back home," she said, her voice getting smaller and smaller as her anxiety rose. What if they still didn't believe her?

The First Master had been oddly quiet as she assessed the situation, but spoke up when she saw the girl getting flustered. "You say that one of Fairy Tail's own will die?" she asked, her eyes unblinking as she looked at Willow.

Willow shook her head. "No, well . . . technically yes and no." She grimaced, not sure how to tell them without giving away exactly what was going to transpire. "See, someone is going to come back from the future and then that person is from Fairy Tail and they will die in our time during the battle that is to come," Willow blurted, hoping that what she said made sense.

"So now, we have someone coming back from the future along with someone coming from a different realm? Do you honestly think we're that gullible?" Laxus said with a harsh laugh.

Willow winced but shot back, "Just wait till the Tartaros Arc where you get to see where the dragons went. Or the E.N.D. Arc when you face Zeref again and you get to see people come back from the past." Willow's hands shot up to her mouth and covered her horrified expression, aghast at what she could have just given away.

All three members of Fairy Tail were looking at her with expressions that were somewhat a mix of surprise and horror, and in Laxus' case, disbelief.

"Alright," the First Master said with a small clap of her hands, "There's no way to prove her claims at this second, so we shall just have to see what the end of the Games brings. One way or another we shall be able to see if she is lying."

Master Makaroc nodded in agreement. "Again, there's nothing we can do until she's either proven right, or proven wrong. Only time will tell. Freed, would you mind keeping an eye on her since she seems partial to you?"

Freed felt his cheeks heating up again as he shook his head and muttered a small, "No, Master," before turning and leading her back to his room. The Inn was booked solid for the Games and while he didn't doubt he could take her to one of the girls' rooms, he kind of liked the thought of her being with him.

"You can take the bed," Freed offered as he shut the door behind them before going to the small trunk at the end of the bed for an extra blanket and pillow to make himself a pallet.

"Freed . . ." he looked up as her heard Willow's voice tremble, "What if when I go to sleep, I disappear again?"

Freed sighed heavily and didn't answer her for a minute as he continued to make up his sleeping arrangements for the night.

"I'm not sure," he said after a few minutes.

Willow nodded and climbed into the bed, but situated herself on the edge as she leaned her hand down towards the man who'd crawled onto his pallet on the floor. "Hold my hand? Maybe if you do, I won't leave in my sleep," she said.

Her lack of embarrassment over the question had Freed blushing up a storm in the dark, but he took her small hand in his anyway, saying a small thank you to whomever that she was back, and a small prayer to the same someone that she would stay put this time.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Oh my goodness, two more followers! Ten people! I love you all! Thank you so much!

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing except the OC. All credit goes to the great and wonderful Hiro Mashima.

The morning of the final day to the Grand Magic Games was a beautiful one. Warm sun poured in through the window to Freed's room at the Inn he was staying at with some of his other guild members. In fact, the sun shone in at just the right angle to hit is face, just enough to be annoying and wake him up.

Freed blinked blearily as he tried to reorient himself. The floor had been an uncomfortable place to sleep but he as a gentleman first and foremost. He was glad to see that Willow's hand was still tucked inside his larger one as it hung down off the side of the bed. Reluctantly he untangled his hand from hers and sat up, pushing his hair off the side of his face as he tried to wake up a little more. The ending of the games would take place later that afternoon when everyone was more awake.

Freed stood and put the linens from his makeshift pallet away before grabbing his clothes and making his way outside and down the hall to the bathroom to change. When he returned to his room he was greeted by the sight of Willow sitting up in the bed, blinking around groggily as she tried to figure out where she was. At the sight of Freed coming through the door, she grinned and jumped out of the bed to rush over and hug him happily, laughing the entire time.

"I'm here! I didn't disappear! I'm still in Fiore!" she cried, her arms wrapped around his chest.

Freed was uncomfortable to say the least and he didn't immediately put his arms around her in return. Social graces called for him to look away from her state of undress as she was still only in her nightclothes while he was fully prepared for the day. He looked down as she squeezed his midsection gently, her face turned up to his with her chin on his chest, tears shining in her eyes.

"I'm so glad I got to stay this time," she said with a watery laugh, the tears falling from the corners of her eyes. Freed sighed and relaxed a bit as he finally wrapped his arms around her back and held her gently as she buried her face in his chest to cry.

Freed kissed the top of her head gently and tried not to think about his budding feelings for the girl. He supposed this was the love at first sight the poets spoke of and that he was just taking a little longer to fall. His hands rubbed up and down her barely clad back and he made a mental note to ask Lisanna and Mirajane to go shopping for the girl so that she might join them later at the Grand Magic Games.

When Willow stopped crying and finally stepped away from him, she was rubbing the tear stains from her face and apologizing frantically. Freed couldn't help it, he smiled at her a bit and shook his head, letting her know he wasn't worried about it.

Later that morning, after he'd tracked down Mirajane and asked her to go shopping, slipping her some coins, he returned to the room with a plate of breakfast for the girl. Willow happily dug into the pancakes.

"So, do you want to tell me how it would be either Mirajane or Cana in Laxus' room last night?" Freed asked good naturedly.

Willow paused and looked up at him, a forkful of the fluffy pancakes paused in route to her mouth. After she'd regained her composure and eaten another forkful or two, she answered. "Well, not that we've seen them get together or anything," she started, "But most fans have what they call 'ships' short for relationships that they want to happen."

At Freed's nod of understanding she continued. "Most people are big NaLu fans, or Natsu and Lucy. Then there are the people who are team GaLe or Gajeevy, which is Gajeel and Levy," she said, ticking off the couples on her fingers.

Freed raised an eyebrow, "Gajeel and Levy? They do realize that he tortured her and all but nailed her to a tree?"

Willow nodded, "Yea, but Levy has totally forgiven him for that. In fact, in the anime we see the Eclipse Arc and that's when she actually admits that she likes him, but you don't see them kiss until the next arc with Tartaros."

Freed must have looked utterly confused because she waved away all that she had just said. "Don't worry about it, back to your original question. Most of the guild members have been paired up with someone including Laxus, Mirajane, Cana and even sometimes you," Willow stated with a small smile.

He blinked and crossed his arms over his chest as he looked over at the girl sitting on his bed. "Me? Who in the world would they pair me with?"

Willow grinned, "Well some people pair you with Mirajane. Something to do with the whole her having Satan Soul and you going all bad mamajama on her during the Raijinshuu failed take-over."

Freed visibly winced. "Everyone knows about that?" he asked in a small voice.

Nodding, Willow continued, "Yea but no one holds it against you anymore, trust me. Kinda goes along with the whole 'everyone makes mistakes'." Freed nodded and sighed motioning for her to continue. "But yea, sometimes you're paired with Mirajane and then some people go to the more yaoi side of things and pair you with Laxus."

Freed blushed hotly and tugged at the sleeves of his coat, looking anywhere inside the room but at her. "Oh dear," was all he said.

Willow laughed, "Yea those stories are quite interesting too read." Freed's face went several shades deeper and Willow laughed more before taking pity on him. "Well, to answer your question, lots of people still ship Laxus and Cana but more ship Laxus and Mirajane. Something to do with how well they seemed to fit together before Lisanna died."

Freed tilted his head and looked at her curiously. "What do you mean they fit together?"

She stopped and thought for a moment before continuing. "Well, they were both kinda punky as teenagers. I don't know if you were really around then but Mirajane was a lot more badass, not the barmaid like she is today."

He shook his head, "No I wasn't around then. I wasn't ousted from the royal family until later. I joined Fairy Tail a few years after Lisanna's death."

Willow's eyes got as round as saucers as she looked at him and he stopped, raising an eyebrow at him. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"You just confirmed a fan theory that you are, in fact related to the royal family here in Fiore," Willow said excitedly.

Freed blinked and held up a lock of his green hair, "Yes because this is oh so common."

Willow giggled and shook her head. "Actually, in my world there's only a few naturally occurring hair colors and then there's tons of variations on them. Blondes, Brunettes, Redheads and people with Black hair," she said, ticking them off on her fingers like she had done the ships.

Freed looked at her quizzically. "You're . . . kidding, right?"

Willow shook her head. "Nope, all other colors, like green blue, heck even Natsu pink, you have to have your hair dyed."

Freed sat silently for a moment, trying to imagine his friends without their original hair color, or even himself with something as boring as brown hair. He shuddered at the thought. Despite his obvious ties to the royal family, he loved his green locks, it was one of his favorite colors.

"Hey Freed?" Willow started in a small voice and when he turned to look at her inquiringly she drew in a deep breath, "Can I . . . can I see your eye?"

He blinked, completely taken aback by the request. No one outside the guild usually knew about his eye and those inside Fairy Tail only saw it when he was in battle. Certainly no one had asked to see it. It wasn't that he was ashamed of it, he just didn't see the point of showing it off to everyone. But he nodded silently and gently pushed his hair of the way so that she could see. He watched her closely, judging her reaction. She had gasped and seemed transfixed by the sight and what he had intended as a small peak seemed forgotten as he watched her.

When he didn't immediately let his hair fall back and obscure her sight, Willow slowly got off the bed and walked towards him, bending at the waist to look closer at his eye. The dark black where the white of his eye should have been fascinating her. The purple was a brilliant color, rivaling that of most amethysts she had seen.

Freed couldn't help but blush as she stared so intently at him. She had bent at the waist to look closer and he had a perfect view down her shirt that he guessed she failed to realize. After a few moments, he'd completely forgotten that he was letting her look at his eye as his vision was trained on the lovely cleavage shot she was giving him.

Willow watched as his eyes connected with hers then his gaze falling lower. She was entranced by the magic she saw swirling in his eye and didn't immediately look towards what he was so focused on. After a minute though, she looked and realized how much of a show she was putting on for him. She squeaked and stood quickly, pulling her top up as her cheeks flared hot enough to match Natsu's flames.

Freed's cheeks took on the same tinge as hers as he scrambled for an apology, glad that his long coat hid his lap. "I am so very sorry," was all he could come up with.

Willow shook her head, "No, no. It was my fault. I was the one accidentally flashing you."

Freed looked anywhere but at her and was thankfully saved by a knock on their door, followed by an overly enthusiastic Mirajane opening the door and stepping inside the room.

"A little birdy told me that we had our favorite amnesia patient back!" she said happily, smiling at Willow, her arms laden with shopping bags.

Willow looked at Mirajane like she had sprouted a second head, wondering if all the bags were meant for her. But Freed was no help as he made a hasty excuse and left the room, leaving Mirajane to help Willow get dressed. Willow shot his retreating form a silent plea for help but of course he didn't see in his quick exit.

"I'm pretty sure at least some of this will fit you," Mirajane said, shutting the door behind Freed, "Let's see if we can't make that boy have another nosebleed like the one he just ran out of here with, shall we?" Willow blushed hard and almost wished she'd gone back to Earth in her sleep, almost.

Freed made it down to the lobby of the Inn that doubled as a café for the staying guests before running into someone from the guild. It was just his luck that it happened to be Bickslow.

"Whoa there, did you bang your nose on something? Seem to have a gusher there," the crazy man said, grabbing a tissue from the mantle to hand Freed.

Freed took the cloth from Bickslow, uttering a small thank you as he pressed it to his nose. "No, I uh . . ." he trailed off, unsure how to put what had just happened in the room. It wasn't like he was a virgin. Not with men anyway; women on the other hand, that was a whole new ballpark for him.

"Boss said the little lady was back in town, this wouldn't have anything to do with her, now would it?" Bickslow asked with any evil grin.

Freed blushed and felt a new gush of blood leave his nose as the sight of Willow's bust filled his imagination. Bickslow laughed uproariously, his tongue hanging out of his mouth at Freed's reaction to just the mention of the girl.

"I'm assuming something happened between you two?" the blue haired man asked when he'd calmed down.

Freed shook his head, "No, well, yes and no. I'm . . . not sure really how to explain it."

Bickslow shook his head and led the smaller mage over to a table, ordering two cups of coffee before looking back to him. "Why don't you tell me what happened, then I'll see what kind of advice you need to win over your lady love, eh?"

Freed blushed hotly once more but didn't try to deny that Willow was his 'lady love'. The other man wouldn't listen anyway. Bickslow was his closest friend and knew all about Freed's attraction to both sexes, and the man didn't care. Hell, Bickslow would stick it in anything that offered up its hole. It couldn't hurt to tell the other man how he was feeling. Freed took a deep breath and tried to figure out where to start.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** I wasn't originally going to write this out but due to a review from _TitanXyz_ , I felt that I should. Also I apologize for not uploading a chapter yesterday. It has been a hard weekend wherein I almost lost my dad and I just needed a day to recharge. Again, yay! Two new followers, and as always I love you all!

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the OC. All events and cannon characters belong to the great Hiro Mashima.

Bickslow stared at the green haired mage in front of him in a state of shock. "What do you mean you've never been with a woman before?" he asked slowly.

Freed couldn't blush anymore after telling his complete story. He didn't know how the other man was supposed to help him and he wasn't quite sure why he was sitting here so calmly speaking about his feelings for the girl. Let alone telling the man about his . . . history.

Bickslow blinked a few times at the younger mage, unsure just how exactly to take this unexpected news. He had never been one to discriminate between the sexes but then he always did the plugging, no matter who it was. Eventually, he just shrugged and blew out a long slow breath, knowing that his usual reaction of laughing at something like this wouldn't be appreciated by his friend now.

"Welp," Bickslow said, drawing out the word and popping the 'p', "Please don't tell me I need to explain the birds and the bees on how it works with a female." He said it as a joke, hoping to lighten the mood. If Freed was desperate enough to spill his guys to Bickslow, he might be serious about this girl, however little time she'd spent here in Fiore.

Freed glared at Bickslow, wondering if he should just get up and leave before the situation got any worse. The older Mage sighed a bit and reached up to take his helmet off, setting it on the table beside their cups of coffee before running a hand through his mohawk.

"Alright, alright," Bickslow said, waving his hands as if to wave away the joke, "all serious now, I promise." He sat forward in his seat a little more, looking at the green haired man. "Look, does she like you? Do you even have a chance with her?" he asked, on eyebrow raised.

Freed bit his lip and looked away. "It's not like I can read her mind or anything, but yes, she does seem interested. She looks at me . . . I don't even know how to describe it. But then sometimes I feel like a little boy with his first crush that doesn't know exactly what to do to get the girl to notice him," he said, his cheeks unable to heat anymore.

Bickslow looked down at his hands and bought himself sometime as he tried to figure out the best course of action. He'd only been partially serious when he said he would give the man advice. Heck, what did he know of anything beyond one night stands? _Not like I'm Mr. Smooth over here, I can't even get Lisanna to look in my direction_ , he thought glumly. To shake himself up he cracked his neck back and forth and resumed looking at his friend. "Alright, well, first things first. She knows all about you since she comes from that other world, yea?" Bickslow asked.

Freed winced at the thought. "Yes, a little too much. They know all about the Raijinshuu and . . . what happened before . . ." he trailed off.

"Hmm," Bickslow sighed, "That seems damning, but you said that she still seems to like you anyway?" At Freed's nod, Bickslow continued, "Then maybe you shouldn't worry about it so much. Besides if she knows all about you, all about us, then there's not really anything you can do to surprise her. Be yourself. If that's what she liked in the first place then don't change it," he ended with a shrug.

"But what am I supposed to do about . . ." Freed asked, a touch of panic rising in his voice, "Things, like . . . physical things?"

Bickslow snorted. "I'm pretty sure she's just as new to all of that as you are. And even then, you have more experience under your belt than she would." He leaned forward and tilted his head to the side to finally make eye contact with the green haired man. "You'll learn just like every other man had to. Hard earned practice and lots of mistakes, which, if she's a good enough woman for you, she'll forgive you for."

Freed looked up at him, chewing on the inside of his lip slightly. "You think she would? She wouldn't hate me if I messed up her first time?"

The Sieth Mage fought the urge to roll his eyes at the younger man. "Dude, she's probably a virgin, and if she is, then that means her first time ain't gonna be a pleasure cruise anyway. If you remember back to your first time, I bet it wasn't the most enjoyable thing in the world, now was it?"

Freed felt the flush return to his cooled cheeks as he thought back. The man hadn't been too rough with him and he'd tried to make it as enjoyable as possible, but Bickslow was right, things had gotten better, more pleasurable, since then. For the first time in what seemed like a long while, Freed sighed deeply, letting the stress go that he'd kept holed up in his body. He smiled gently and slumped back in his chair, letting his head rest back against the wall behind him.

"There ya go," Bickslow said, his signature grin invading his face once more, "A little pep talk and you're good as new, better even. You don't seem as tense and uptight as you usually are!"

Freed snorted, raising his head to look at the other Mage with a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. "You're right, I am less tense. I'm . . ." he sought through his immense vocabulary for the correct adjective, "I'm happy." He grinned, "Very happy. And not just because I like her. I'm happy because she knows about what happened. And she says that no one cares anymore. No one holds a grudge against us."

Bickslow blinked at Freed, raising an eyebrow. "You really care that much about it?"

Freed suddenly sat forward and grabbed Bickslow's forearms, startling the Seith Mage. "I have regretted it every day since it happened. I tried to calm Laxus down, tried to get him to see reason, that it wasn't a wise choice of action. But I would follow my leader to the ends of Earthland if that's what he wanted. So, I didn't stop even thought I knew it was wrong. It took Mirajane all but killing me in her Satan Soul form for me to realize that, I do not know it all. We are not much more powerful than the people in our guild."

Freed sat back, staring at the table, eyes glassy as he wasn't really looking at the table, he was looking more into himself. "I want what the others have. I want the friendships that they hold so dear. Sure, I have you, and Evergreen and Laxus. But I want the others in the guild to accept us back, like they used to before we got into that mess. I don't know why Willow made me see this. I don't why it all matters so much more now that she's here than it did before. But I don't care. I'm glad she sees me for me. And even if the guild doesn't ever see us the way they used to, at least I know that one person cares."

Freed smiled to himself, imagining Willow's face. She seemed to have invaded his life and broken down the barriers to his world and the walls he'd put up around his heart to guard himself against everyone's opinions. _**And she's done nothing except be herself**_ , he thought, _**her wonderful self**_. She'd come into his life like a blast of Natsu's fire, reading with him and just being. Freed had never known someone so like himself, except not. Willow had never backed down. Many girls would have cried in her position, the way they had treated her in the beginning. But Willow had taken it all and barely shown her fear. She'd gained his respect. And he suspected his heart when she'd disappeared so quick.

Suddenly, his desperation to get her back all made sense. Willow fit with him like a missing piece. Spending the day together, he'd not been so lonely. They'd read together and laughed. The guild was full of passionate people, none who he would give up. But they were raucous and violent usually. Willow was . . . demure but not hesitant. She always wore her emotions on her face and she seemed like she would fit in with his family at Fairy Tail. Freed had fallen hard for the girl whom he barely knew. His emotions and thoughts so scattered from the little whirlwind that he didn't know where to start picking back up the pieces of himself.

Vaguely, Freed wondered if this was her magic, getting people to let down their guard in such a way that they couldn't hide from their true selves. Never had he heard of such a magic but it was the only explanation that made sense. Certainly, the Raijinshuu had never suspected Laxus and Mirajane might have a thing. But once Willow had come to Fiore, there they were in bed together.

Freed's thoughts halted and he pondered that idea. Could there be such a magic that allowed someone to take away metaphorical barriers that people had erected around themselves? A magic that, at its core, stripped away the layers people built up around themselves and allowed them to see what really mattered? What they really wanted?

The Rune Mage stood suddenly, moving so quickly that the chair fell back onto the floor with a clatter behind him and the other man looked up at him in surprise. But Freed didn't care, he was lost in thought, wondering if the library in this town was any good, if they would even be open, wondering if they would have any type of documented magic like what Willow might have.

 _If her magic could be evolved, could it be used as a weapon to distract her opponents? Could it be used to break down physical barriers as well as mental ones? Would her magic ultimately drive someone insane if used incorrectly or left unchecked?_ Thoughts flew through Freed's knowledge seeking mind, with few answers there to quench his never-ending thirst.

Bickslow's hand shot out and grabbed Freed's wrist. "Dude, what happened? Are you okay?" he asked, looking more than a little concerned at his friend's state of mind. One moment he had been talking up a storm and freaking the Seith Mage out. The next moment he had been mumbling to himself about different types of magic.

Freed snapped out of his thoughts at the feel of his friend's hand on his arm. "Huh?" he murmured, looking up, blinking slowly at Bickslow as his mind slowly came back to the present.

The Seith Mage grinned his iconic smile, tongue and all at Freed. "This girl has you all tied up in knots and you haven't even kissed her yet!" he laughed.

Freed blushed at the thought, his mind back to racing a mile a minute as he wondered how he would ever get up the nerve to do even attempt to kiss Willow.

Bickslow raised his eyebrows, "Wait, you haven't already kissed her, have you?" he asked with another signature grin.

Freed blushed all the way to the tips of his green hair. "NO! No . . . I just . . . I'm not sure if I'll be able to try and initiate that . . ." Freed said, his voice getting softer as he looked away. He was saved more embarrassment, for at that moment Mirajane made her way down into the small café, Willow trailing, albeit reluctantly behind her. And Freed's breath stopped.

Her unruly brown curls had been left to frame her face, her glasses perched on the edge of her nose as she looked at him for approval. Mirajane had given her a plain white off the shoulder dress that just barely made it to her midthighs. It had puffy short sleeves reminiscent of the pirates of old. And over top the dress she wore a form fitting purple vest that did nothing to hide her bare shoulders. The vest had several gold clasps down the front that started mid bust line and made their way down to her waist where the vest stopped. Her legs were bare from midthigh down to her knee where a pair of plain brown lace up boots finished her outfit.

"Well," Willow said hesitantly. "What do you think?" she asked as she gave a small twirl, the soft breeze blowing up the back of her skirt probably a little more than she had intended.

The last thing Freed heard before he hit the ground, fainting from blood loss south and out his nose, was Bickslow laughing his ass off.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** I wanted to apologize for all the mistakes and typos I have written. I don't have anyone to proof read and while I catch most of them, a few still slip through. Also, in chapter 7, I do know that Fiore uses Jewels as currency, not coins. Slip of the tongue, I apologize.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing except the OC. All events and cannon characters belong to the wonderful Hiro Mashima.

Willow blushed heavily and felt horrible as she sat in the chair next to Freed, who'd finally come around after a few minutes. He had a bloody tissue pressed to his nose and Mirajane was fussing over him, trying to encourage him to go see a doctor since he might have hit his head when he fainted. Freed just blushed and shooed the well-meaning woman away.

"Mirajane, I promise you, I am fine," he said gently, giving her a rare smile.

The barmaid looked at him, her jaw dropping in shock. "That's it, you're going to see a doctor, Freed! Since when do you smile!" she explained.

A pair of booted feet entered Willow's vision as she looked at the floor in her embarrassment and she looked up to see the blond-haired Dragon Slayer. He smirked and wrapped an arm around Mirajane's shoulders, kindly leading her away from Willow, Freed and Bickslow. "Mira," he said slowly, "Just leave them be. Master wants to talk to you about today anyway."

Freed sighed gratefully and leaned his head back, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to stifle the bleeding. He felt Willow turn to look at him and he opened his eyes to watch her expression as he gave her a small smile.

Willow blushed again but then looked back at the tissue. "I'm sorry Freed, I didn't mean to . . ." she trailed off, unable to put into words what she had done.

He laughed shortly and finally could remove the tissue from his face, the bleeding finally stopped. "Don't be," Freed said, swiping at the dried blood on his face with the tissue ineffectively, "I shouldn't have been so bold to have looked."

Willow bit her lip and pulled a handkerchief out from the inner vest pocket and dipped it in her glass of water before reaching out and dabbing at the dried blood. "But it was my fault in the first place. I was the one that twirled so much that my skirt flew up."

"Where in the world did you get that handkerchief?" Freed asked, changing the subject as he tried to keep his mind focused on the present instead of daydreaming about her hands on other parts of his body.

"Oh," Willow murmured, "Mirajane said to keep it on me just in case of nosebleeds." She blushed at her own words.

Freed let out a bark of laughter. "That damn meddling barmaid," he rolled his eyes, "I swear she's too damn good at this."

Willow smiled softly and put the handkerchief down, looking closely at his face to make sure she'd gotten all the blood. Freed looked down at her, making eye contact before smiling as well.

"You'd make a good mom," he said simply.

And just like that Willow's cheeks heated right back up as she immediately imagined toddlers with curly green hair running around the town of Magnolia.

"Willow," Freed started, but was interrupted by the Master's booming voice as he used Warren's telepathic magic to broadcast his voice into all the minds of Fairy Tail's Mages.

"Listen up you brats," he called, getting everyone's attention easily, "One of our own has been taken prisoner. Now the plan for the Grand Magic Games has been changed and a small party will be sent out to try and rescue our missing Fairy, Lucy. I want you all to act as if nothing is going on, as if nothing is wrong. If the royal court were to suspect that we were up to something, it could mean jail for everyone one of us."

Freed shivered at the thought of being locked up in the castle. He'd already been a prisoner there once. A highly respected, well fed and clothed prisoner, but a prisoner none the less.

Willow had her head tilted to one side and she was looking at him inquiringly. _Right, only Fairies can hear Warren's Magic unless he specifically alters it_ , Freed thought.

"Apologies," Freed said, tuning out the rest of what the Master had to say, "Warren's magic." He knew that he wouldn't have to explain it to her since she knew about all of them.

She grinned, understanding immediately. "Anything we should worry about?" she asked without thinking.

Freed snorted indelicately and shook his head. "Why don't you tell me, you're the only one in this world who knows how today will play out," he said, watching her expression carefully.

Her expression immediately darkened as she thought about who they would lose today. "Oh, right," she said glumly.

Freed felt bad instantly. He'd not intended to make her sad. "Come on," he said, standing quickly and offering his hand out to her, "Let's go to the stadium. We don't want to be too late or we won't get good seats."

Willow's face lit up and she placed her hand in his without hesitation, letting him pull her from her seat and leading her out of the small café.

"So, tell me," Freed said, her hand still clasped in his as he looked down at her, "Does Fairy Tail win today?"

She grinned up at him, "Ah ah ah!" she singsonged, "Spoilers!"

During the aftermath of the game and the resulting stampede of people trying to evacuate as Atlas Flame had made his appearance, Freed had been separated from Willow. He'd been panicky at first, not wanting to leave the girl alone in the city that she did not know, but more pressing matters had taken place as more dragons had appeared from the gate. Saving Earthland had become his priority.

But now that the gate had been destroyed, and Fairy Tail the victor of the battle and the Grand Magic Games, he was free to search the city, to find Willow.

Except, he'd looked all over the city and hadn't found a trace of her. He'd first tried their room, thinking she might have gone there when they'd been separated, but no such luck. Freed felt like he'd walked the entire town looking for her, calling her name out of desperation to find her once more.

Finally, he admitted to himself that he would need help and he met back at the Inn where most of the others had been staying to ask Natsu and his team for their help since he'd been unsuccessful at finding his own team as well.

"Find the girl, eh?" Natsu had said with a smile, "Who is she anyway, not a guild member that I've met."

Freed shook his head, "She's not part of the guild, yet, but she is still very important to me. Please tell me you will help me find her? This is a strange land to her and I'm sure she's out there scared."

Lucy reached over and placed her hand over Freed's where it rested on the bar, squeezing it gently. "Don't worry, we'll help. Who are we to deny a friend in need?"

Freed looked up at her and gave her a small smile, trying to communicate with that one gesture how much it meant to him that they would help him. "Thank you," he said, his voice watery with unshed tears. He felt like he had during the two weeks she had been missing, lost and willing to do anything to get her back.

But he was glad that he'd asked for help this time. If Lucy considered him a friend, then he was one step closer to his goal of getting back into the guild's good graces.

"I think we should pair up," Erza said from the other side of him, "We can cover more ground separately, but I wouldn't let my guard down here in the city. It's not like back in Magnolia."

Gray nodded at her side, "She's got a point. Me and Lucy can take the east side of Crocus, while Freed and Erza take the west. Natsu and Happy can take to the sky and see if they can find her from there." The rest of Team Natsu agreed and they set off in search of Willow.

"So, who is this girl to you Freed?" Erza asked to pass the time as they searched.

Freed's cheeks heated a little. "She's a very good friend. She comes from a different realm than ours—"

"Like Edolas?" Erza interjected.

Freed stopped momentarily, before jogging to catch back up with the Requip Mage. "Actually, yes much like that. Except in her realm, Earth, Fairy Tail, the other guilds, Fiore and Earthland, are completely made up," he explained. _I wonder if Evergreen, Bickslow, and Laxus forgot about Edolas just as I did,_ Freed reasoned, _and that's why we had such a hard time believing Willow at first._

Erza thought about that for a moment as she looked down a dimly lit alleyway, deciding it was empty and continuing with their search. "So, she knew what would happen here at the Grand Magic Games?" she inquired.

He nodded. "Yes, it seems there have been quite a few stories told of the battles that happen after this one. She's kept most of what is to happen a secret, hoping that it will keep the future of Fairy Tail from changing," he continued, "Though, she did warn us about someone dying today but said that it would all be alright in the end."

The Requip mage was silent as she processed the new information. "Do you think that she would tell us if something major were to happen?" she questioned, her thoughts taking on a more personal note.

Freed hesitated. "I assume so, though she's mentioned a few things that seem . . . out of place and quite impossible."

Erza let out a small laugh. "If there's one thing Fairy Tail mages are good at, it's doing the impossible. What is one thing that doesn't seem probable for this world?"

The green haired man mentally flipped through his memories of the things Willow had told him. "Well, she once told me that Levy would kiss Gajeel, and that seems very improbable."

Erza stopped and looked at the man. "I agree, that seems most improbable," she resumed walking, ever searching for the girl. "But not impossible."

He eyed her a bit. "What have you seen that leads you to believe that?"

She scoffed at him. "I've seen the way they make eyes at each other when they think no one else, including the other person, is looking. I happen to be in the betting pool with Mirajane and some of the other guild members. I give it a month before they're all over each other."

He grinned good naturedly. "You're going to lose that bet. According to Willow, after the one kiss, they acted like nothing ever happened. And Gajeel doesn't admit his feelings for her for a good while after that."

Erza cursed loudly as they made their way down a side street and she somewhat regretted not bringing Natsu along to light the way.

"No! I don't want to!" a voice rang out and Freed froze in his tracks.

"Did you hear that?" he asked softly, hoping he wasn't going mad.

Erza nodded, stopping as well as they waited for the voice again.

They didn't have to wait long as a frightened scream pierced through the still night air. Freed took off down the side street, making a left at the end, Erza running close behind him. Freed made another sharp left and was standing at the entrance to an alleyway where figures moved at the very end.

They could hear the voices clearly now, along with the panicked one of a girl in distress.

"Come on, little girly, let's have some fun huh? It's the night to celebrate after all!" a male voice said.

"Don't you want to show the Mages' of Fairy Tail a good time?" a deeper male voice questioned.

"You're not from Fairy Tail! I know all of the guild members and neither of you belong!" a panicked female voice replied. _Willow's voice!_ Freed would know it anywhere.

"Well, maybe we ain't, but it don't matter. We caughtcha so you belong to us now," the first male laughed with glee.

"Dark Écriture," Freed cast without hesitation, striding confidently down the alleyway that he had missed on his initial search of the city.

"Freed!" Willow cried out from the dark end of the alley just before her form came barreling towards him. She collided with him but he had braced for it and took in her small form with his own, wrapping his arms securely around her back and dipping his head to touch his nose to her hair.

"You're safe now," he promised her, squeezing gently.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** So the first little bit is how the ending of the last chapter should have been. I got a little overexcited and skipped over, what I consider, a few important details. Also, yay! Two more followers! Also a huge shout-out to _TitanXyz_ and _Rakuen91_ for leaving a review! And major thanks again to those of you who Favorited this story.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing except for my OC. All cannon events and characters belong to Hiro Mashima.

* * *

"Dark Écriture, Pain" Freed cast without hesitation, striding confidently down the alleyway that he had missed on his initial search of the city.

The two men at the end of the alleyway cried out, their indistinct forms crumpling to the ground.

"Freed!" Willow cried out from the dark end of the alley just before her form came barreling towards him. She collided with him but he had braced for it and took in her small form with his own, wrapping his arms securely around her back and dipping his head to touch his nose to her hair.

"You're safe now," he promised her, squeezing gently.

* * *

Willow let out a hiccupping sob and she squeezed her arms around his middle.

Erza slipped past them, a smile playing that the corners of her mouth as she picked up the two men who had been harassing Willow, dragging them back past the couple and down the street towards the palace to give them to the local guards.

Freed gently kissed Willow's soft hair, letting her cry against him until she got it all out. He rubbed her back as she cried and only stopped when she leaned back to look up at him.

"Thank you," she said, her voice watery.

He smiled down at her, leaning his forehead against hers as he closed his eyes. "I'm just glad you're okay, it's dangerous to be out on your own at night if you don't know how to use your magic."

He heard her laugh just before something touched his lips. His eyes sprung open just in time to see her face lean away, a blush riding high on her cheeks _Did she just_ —

"Come on," Willow said, drawing away from him as she took his hand and tugged gently, "Let's go back to the Inn. I'm starting to freeze out here."

Freed nodded blankly, letting her lead him out of the alleyway and back onto the main road in Crocus. She stopped once she got there, not exactly knowing how to get back on her own.

"Hey Freed, how do we get back?" she asked, her face turning to look up at his innocently, like she hadn't kissed him a few minutes before.

"Huh?" he asked stupidly, his brain still short circuiting.

She smiled a bit, feeling bold at his reaction and leaned closer to him, her chest all but making contact against his arm, giving him a perfect view down her vest covered dress. "I asked, how do we get back to the Inn? I'm not from around here, and I'd just get lost again if I tried to lead you back," she said cheekily.

Freed swallowed, his eyes never leaving her small cleavage as his brain tried to restart, failing miserably. "I . . . uh . . ." was all he managed. She could tell she was getting to him from the small drop of blood that slowly dripped from his nose.

Willow grinned even more and leaned up, her face only inches from his. "Something on your mind?" she asked, her voice a little breathy.

He lost it, nearly squishing her as he crumpled to the ground.

When he awoke, Freed was laying on his back, back in his bed at the Inn, with Willow sitting on the edge of the bed next to him, pressing a cold cloth to his head. She seemed engaged in a conversation with Team Natsu, who sat in different chairs that had been dragged into their room.

"So you know all about us right? You know what's gonna happen?" Lucy asked excitedly, her little celestial spirit Plue sitting on her lap, quivering a bit.

"Yea, pretty much. All the way up until the E.N.D. arc anyway," Willow replied, smiling.

"So do I ever become a really famous money and have lots of Jewels?" Lucy all but screamed, her eyes shining.

Willow winced and shook her head, "Sorry, not yet, but you're still working on your book. So don't give up hope!"

Natsu sat on the floor next to Lucy, one leg bent at the knee, his arm perched atop it while Happy lay flopped on his head. His expression was an oddly sober one. "Have I found Igneel?" was all he asked.

Willow's expression turned somber as she looked at the pink haired Mage. "I'm a firm believer in not giving away spoilers," she started, "But I guess this won't change too much of anything."

Natsu raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to continue.

"You did find Igneel. And Metalicana and Grandeeney. Weisslogia and Skiadrum as well," she stated, her face turning downwards and only Freed could see the tears at the corners of her eyes, "But, you don't find them as you think you will."

"Huh?" Natsu asked, thoroughly confused, but Willow shook her head.

"Don't ask me more, I can't tell you. I don't want to alter the way things play out," Willow said, her hand dropping from Freed's forehead to squeeze in tight fists in her lap.

Freed reached over and covered one fist with his hand, squeezing gently. She looked up at him, smiling as she realized he was awake.

"Hey!" she said, wiping away the unshed tears, "You're awake! Are you feeling ok?"

He nodded and slowly sat up, scooting back on the bed to lean his form against the headboard. "Yes, feeling just fine, thank you. What happened?"

Willow blushed and looked away towards the window. "I, um, may have teased you a little too much and you fainted. Thankfully Natsu and Happy were patrolling the sky and saw you go down," she paused to catch her breath, "They brought you back here for me."

Freed nodded gratefully to Team Natsu as they stood to leave, even more grateful when they'd all finally left. He let out a small sigh and leaned his head back against the high headboard.

Erza had offered to let Willow share her room for the night if she was uncomfortable in a man's room but Willow had just shaken her head and grinned knowingly.

"And oust Jellal from his perfectly comfy bed? I don't think so?" was all Willow had said and the Requip Mage was blushing up a storm and making a hasty exit.

Willow stood, suddenly nervous to be alone with him and started fussing a bit with the covers. After a moment, she abandoned it to walk over to the window, leaning against the wall as she looked out at the half destroyed city.

Freed was unsure of what to say himself. A lot had happened that night and it felt like completely new territory to him. Deciding to give her some space to change, he grabbed his night clothes and stepped outside the room before making his way down to the bathroom to change.

Willow let out a small sigh of relief and quickly changed into her tank top and cotton shorts, crawling under the covers to ward off the chilly night. She scooted herself all the way over till she was against the wall, letting him have the outside half of the bed. It was big enough for the both of them and she knew he would insist as a gentleman that she take the bed. But he'd fainted earlier and _she_ was going to insist that he take his part of the bed as well.

When he came back in he headed straight for the chest that sat at the end of the bed that contained the spare sheets he'd made his pallet with last night.

"Don't," Willow said softly as she sat up and patted the bed next to her, "There's plenty of room."

Freed blushed and shook his head. "I'll be fine with this, promise. As a gentleman, I mustn't share—"

"Freed," Willow said sternly, "We're both adults here. I'm pretty sure we both know how to keep our hands to ourselves."

He blushed hard but gave in and closed the chest, slowly making his way back around the bed and crawling in next to her. She'd lain down on her side facing him and he turned his back to her so she wouldn't see his hot cheeks. He was also laying as still as a board so as not to touch her.

Willow grinned at how silly he was being and wondered what he would do if . . .

Freed nearly jumped out of the bed as he felt her small hand touch the middle of his back. Instead he arched away from her and looked at her over his shoulder.

"Can I help you?" he asked sarcastically.

She grinned even more, her hand following his retreat as she pressed her hand to his back once more.

This time he sat up and moved away from her a bit. She sat up as well, still grinning ear to ear.

"I thought you said we were adults and could keep our hands to ourselves?" he questioned her in the darkness of the room.

"Yes, well," she started, getting up on her knees and walking herself over the bed on them towards the green haired Mage. "What if I don't want to keep my hands to myself?" she teased. She had no intention of doing anything with him, not so soon anyway. But he was just so much fun to mess with that she couldn't help it.

Freed went to move more away from her and fell out of the bed, hitting the floor with a loud _THUNK_. Willow bit her inner cheek to keep from laughing as she peered over the edge of the bed at the man. He glared up at her, his legs still partially on the bed and his hair fanned out beneath him. "Are you happy with yourself?" he asked, trying his best to glare at her.

Willow bit her lip so hard she feared it might bleed but managed not to laugh as she offered him her hand to help right himself. "I'm sorry, you're just too adorable not to."

He sighed and took her hand, and with the both of them working together he managed to crawl back onto the bed and once more was settled in next to her, but this time they faced each other. He watched for a minute or so as she got herself comfortable, tucking one arm under her pillow and head and half lying on her stomach. He raised his eyebrows at her. "Finished?" he joked.

She grinned and leaned up to kiss the tip of his nose. "Yep, yep, yep."

Freed stared at her crossly. "Would you stop surprising me like that? I swear you're going to give me a heart condition that way."

Willow just smiled happily. "But I like you. And I believe you like me back. So, what's the harm in teasing you till you snap and actually do something about it?"

He groaned silently and stretched until he was in a similar position on the bed as she was. "The problem is that I'm bound to faint more than I would be to snap," he grumbled.

Her smile softened as her eyelids dipped, her gaze on his lips. "I liked kissing you, ya know, even if it was only for a second."

He groaned again and buried his heated face into his pillow. He felt her playing with a strand of his hair but refused to look up.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked softly, rubbing the green strands between her fingers gently.

"No," he said, his voice muffled from the pillow, "I'm just not sure how to go about all this without making a fool of myself."

Willow dropped the lock of hair she had been playing with and threaded her fingers through more of the strands, tugging on them gently till he turned to look at her once more. "I don't think you could ever look like a fool," she said, "You're too sophisticated and you look everything look so easy, including your magic. I'm the one who looks like a fool."

Freed shook his head a bit, careful not to pull the strands free from her hand. "You're too beautiful to look like a fool."

She snorted, "You realize that makes absolutely no sense, right?"

He grinned a bit and leaned in to kiss her forehead gently. "Sleep, I have a feeling we're both going to need it. And I know I'll be sore in the morning after tonight's battle."

Willow smiled and nodded, untangling her hand from his hair and laying it on the bed between their pillows as she closed her eyes, not long for sleep.

Freed sighed happily, covering her hand with his own guild crested one and closing his eyes as well.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Sorry I haven't updated in forever. I could give you excuses but the real reason is life. My hometown was recently featured in the news, you might have seen it. We had the KKK and the Nazis show up over a feckin' statue. Glorious right? To get away from the news I got back into reading an remembered I needed to write. Anyway, thank you for those who have favorited and followed. Also, big thanks to **TitanXyz** , **Rakuen91** , and **BlackDove WhiteDove** for your reviews/questions/comments. I love hearing feedback.

 **Disclaimer:** Standard I own nothing and everything belongs to the wonderful (TROLL) Hiro Mashima...That was a dirty trick with Natsu and Lucy and I'm still burning over it.

Light shined brightly through the glass panes of the room Freed shared with Willow, waking him slowly. He blinked a few times, a smile appearing on his face as he remembered Willow was right there beside him.

That was, before his eyes adjusted and he realized she was no longer in the bed beside him. He sat up slowly, looking around the room for her, his tousled green hair falling gracefully over his shoulders. He blinked even more at the bright light that filled every corner of the room; the very empty room. Freed sat up further and swung his legs over the bed, searching for sleeping pants so he could exit the room.

After checking the restroom down the hall, Freed went back to the room to dress, thinking Willow might have gone downstairs without him. As he pulled on his coat his eyes glanced over her clothing and his heart stuttered to a stop. Willow wouldn't have gone downstairs to the main area in only her night clothes, would she?

Freed raced down the stairs, taking them two at a time as he buckled his rapier to his side. He looked around the common area quickly, spotting the girls in a group near one of the windows.

"Mirajane, have you seen Willow at all this morning?" he asked frantically, his fear rising with every passing second. Going back to her own realm wasn't out of the question as they still didn't know what triggered it, but it had taken weeks for her to get back last time. His heart couldn't much more of that, it had just started falling for her.

The white-haired barmaid shook her head, her expression filling with worry as she looked at the man, desperation rolling off him in waves. She felt for him, it wasn't often the man let others get as close as Willow had in such a short period of time.

Freed visibly collapsed into himself as reality hit. Willow had been taken back. He had no way of knowing when she would be back or if she would even come back at all. His eyes started to well with unshed emotion and his knees started to give. Thankfully, someone caught him from behind and hauled him upright.

"Alright now, none of that. What Willow think of you giving up that easily?" Bickslow said calmly from behind Freed as he helped the man regain his footing. Freed brought up an arm to dash away the tears, mentally locking his knees to make sure he would stay up of his own power.

"You're right," he said softly, "I need to figure out what is making her come and go so randomly so that I can stabilize it and she can stay here."

"Or in her own realm," Lisanna said from beside her sister, ever the voice of realism.

Bickslow grimaced, "Liz, I don't think that's something he wants to hear now."

Freed shook his head and waved the comment away. "No, she's right. Willow might very well want to stay in her own realm and if that's the case then I will begrudgingly accept it. But I will do everything in my power to make sure she wants to stay here in Earthland, at Fairy Tail. To make sure she wants to stay with me." His eyes were hard as he stared straight ahead at an invisible goal, his stride confident as he walked out of the Inn and down towards the Library of Crocus, leaving the rest of the guild to look after him with mixed emotions of pride and pity.

Willow woke with a large yawn that she tried and failed to hide behind her hand. She didn't want Freed to see her huge mouth, or heaven forbid, smell her morning breath. She blinked sleepily as she pushed her glasses back up onto her nose as she registered her surroundings.

There was no fireplace, no big open window, no old-style furnishings of the Inn. And no Freed.

Willow cried out, her eyes instantly welling with tears as a sob tore through her chest. "No!" she whispered, before crying it again louder, "NO!"

She flung her face back into the pillow to cry, great sobs wracking her small frame. When she had exhausted her grief for the moment she rolled onto her side and looked listlessly around her room. She hated this place now; it meant she was worlds away from Freed.

The house must have been empty, otherwise someone would have come running when she had cried out.

Slowly, Willow sat up and made her way out of her room and made her way to the kitchen, glancing around the room with eyes glazed over. She wasn't hungry but she knew she had to eat. If she was ever to get back to Earthland, she would need her strength. And Freed would be none too happy that she wasn't eating right.

At the very thought of him fresh tears came to her eyes and she lifted her glasses to brush them away. "I can't, I have to keep going. Freed will figure out how to get me back," she said aloud out of desperation.

She reached for the bag of bread to make herself some toast, the knowledge that Freed felt the same about her and that he wouldn't stop till she was back keeping her going for the moment.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** I'm sorry for the long delay in updates. Life is...life. Once more thanks to all the people who have faved and followed. I love hearing reviews and comments.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail. Everything other than the OCs belong to Hiro Mashima.

* * *

The door to the guild hall slammed shut behind the green haired mage as he stalked towards the bar and ordered a drink from Mira. Natsu and Lucy watched on with mild interest as the mage proceeded to drink more than most of them had ever seen.

"Poor guy," Lucy said with a small sigh as she watched Freed.

"What's up with him?" Natsu asked, completely clueless.

"He's upset, idiot, what else?" Lucy said without much heat, rolling her eyes at him.

Natsu looked at her quizzically, "Well, yea I get that he's upset, but why?"

Lucy smiled a bit and turned back to watch the now halfway drunk mage as he lightly tapped his head on the bar in front of Mirajane, the barmaid awkwardly trying to pat his back in sympathy.

"He misses Willow, of course," Lucy stated, her mind already plotting out their story in a book.

Natsu growled gently and reached over to shake her shoulder gently with his large hand, "Again, I get that he misses her, but _why_?"

Lucy looked over at him, blinking slowly. "Natsu, you're dense, but surely you're not so dense as to not recognize when somebody likes somebody else." At least, she half hoped that wasn't true. She bit her lip, hoping he actually didn't recognize her feelings for him.

Natsu looked over at the mage who had practically passed out on the bar in the middle of the afternoon. He was such a lightweight. Slowly, his mind pieced the picture together before grinning wide back at Lucy. "Oohhhhh he liiiiiiiikkkkkeeeeesssss her," he imitated Happy.

Lucy snorted gently, "Oh yea, big time he likes her."

Natsu let his grin drop. "Well then we need to get her back."

His female partner looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "What in the world are you talking about Natsu? She's gone to another realm number one. And number two why do we _need_ to go get her back?"

Natsu gave her those big eyes that had her heart melting every time. "Because Freed is family, and Fairy Tail does anything for family." He didn't even try to address how they were going to go about trying to get the girl back from another realm.

Lucy sighed to herself as she watched him, wondering what plan was being cranked out in that brain of his, only to feel her stomach drop when he turned to look at her again with his signature huge grin. "Natsu, no," she started only to be cut off.

"Come on, Luce, I got a plan!" he all but shouted as he grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the guildhall.

On the other side of the guildhall, Levy sat next to Gajeel and Team Shadow Gear, her gale force glasses perched upon her button nose as she devoured book after book. Gajeel had given up pretending not to look at her and was now watching with interest, wondering if he should stop the Shrimp from killing herself with reading.

"Levy-" Droy started, but was cut off without even a glance up from the smaller mage.

"Don't, Droy. I can't stop now. Freed's family and he's hurting. And if to end that hurt we have to get that girl back then that's what we'll do," she stated calmly, shutting the book she had just finished and reached for the next one in her multitudinous stacks she'd dragged up from the guild Library.

Except a heavy hand slapped on top of the books, refusing to move. The solid script mage blinked for a few seconds and then looked up at the pierced owner of said hand. "Gajeel, move it or lose it."

He growled at her a bit, "I will, but you need to eat something. You've been at this for hours."

"But Freed-" she said, a bit desperate.

"I know you want the girl back for him. I'm not saying you can't continue your research. But pushing yourself without food is only going to set things back if you get sick," Gajeel said gently, moving his hand to the top of her head to ruffle the blue locks there.

Levy sighed as her shoulders slumped and she took off the magically enhanced glasses, Gajeel shooting Jet a look over her head and the speed mage went to place Levy's regular order with Mira.

"Gihihi, there's a good Shrimp," Gajeel said, smiling a bit.

In another corner of the guild hall, Laxus uncrossed his arms and sighed heavily as he watched his ever-devolving friend at the bar. He took his sound pods off and made his way up to his grandfather's office, not even knocking, before going in and shutting the door behind him.

Master Makarov looked up at the sudden intrusion but didn't even comment. Everyone had been in a sad mood lately ever since the girl was gone. Freed was family and if he was upset, all of Fairy Tail was upset.

"What can we do Gramps?" Laxus asked as he sat down in the chair across the desk from the Master.

"I'm not sure what can be done. I've already contacted the Magic Council and they've never heard of something like this before, other than Edolas. But even that realm was technically closer than this girls' realm is. No one knows what drew our planes of existence together before and are totally clueless as to how has it happened again." The Master sighed and rubbed his temples. He hated not having answers for the boy, for his family, for Fairy Tail.

Laxus sat silently, thinking. But he wouldn't have a clue where to start. Levy, Lucy and Freed were the researchers of their guild. Levy was already working her ass off and Lucy had just taken a mission with the Flamebrain. And Freed was…well, Freed was doing all he could but still falling apart at the seams.

Suddenly there was a huge crash and several startled screams from outside the office, down in the main room of the guild hall. Both Master and his grandson rushed outside to see the wreckage, thinking someone had gotten into a nasty fight. But what they didn't expect was the roof of the guild hall crashed in and a man slowly walking around the guild hall with a strange device in his hands making weird noises.

"What the hell?" Laxus stated just as the man walked near Freed and the machine in his hands started screeching up a storm.

"You! I've found you!" the man screamed, jumping around excitedly.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** I know, I disappear and give you short chapters. Please bear with me. This is the first time I've tried to write something with a plot instead of pure fluff. I don't know how many times I rewrote this part in my head over and over and over. I would write more but I kind like ending on a warm fuzzy moment. Next time will be my usual 2k, promise :) As always, thank you for the follows and special thanks to the reviews: _BlackDove_ _WhiteDove_ , _purplefeather9_ , _Shadowing_ (yes I a still working on that question, I think I have a plausible idea though, thank you for catching that), _lucefatale_ , and _Lunalight22_.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail. The great Hiro Mashima does.

* * *

Freed heard the commotion and the yelling as the man stood right behind him. He would have to be deaf to miss it. He turned slowly to look at the man.

He was short, almost as short as Romeo. He had a receding hairline and he was rather portly. He didn't dress for his frame as his t-shirt wasn't nearly long enough to fit over his stomach and meet his pants. His pudgy face was shining with sweat that Freed wasn't so sure was from exertion of the physical kind.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a somewhat bored voice.

"You're not from around here! My thingy told me so! It goes ding when there's stuff!" the man was bouncing on the balls of his feet, holding a strange lacrima powered object in front of him that did in fact ding softly every twenty seconds or so. He looked down at it in confusion as it dinged once more. "Though, I would hope it would give off a stronger ding…hmmm…"

Freed looked at the man like he had gone insane.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing, crashing into our guild?" Laxus shouted down from the second story landing at the crazy man in front of Freed.

"Well," the man said looking up at him, "You see, I'm rather lonely. And I have a hard time meeting humans of the female persuasion," he blushed hard, "So I created this device and input my exact preferences. It was supposed to bring me an unattached woman who I could…woo…"

Freed blinked at the man, his brain faster than Laxus' lightning as he pieced together what the man was saying with the strange events that had been happening to him recently. "But it hasn't been working?" he asked softly.

"Well…no…I think?" the man scratched at the back of his neck. "I keep resetting it and trying it again but I wasn't having much luck until about two weeks ago when I was in Crocus for the Grand Magic Games and it started giving a soft dinging. I looked all around the city but I couldn't find her. So I reset it again. Then, as I was headed home through Magnolia on the train, it started giving off that ding again," the man paused smiling at everyone around the guild. "But I was prepared this time! I had whipped up this other little device," he pulled out a small box out of his pocket to show them, "that would transport me to within a few feet of my lovely lady! And then boom I was here!"

The entire guild looked at the man as if he was out of his gourd, which, to be honest, he was. Loneliness can do strange things to people.

"But," he said, looking over Freed once more, "You might have long hair like a woman, but you're definitely not my type."

Laxus let out a bark of laughter and hopped over the railing from the second floor, landing with a thud next to his green haired friend. He quickly swiped the first machine from the mans' hands with a small "Hey!" from the lunatic. He handed it to Freed, having caught onto what the mage was thinking.

Freed examined the device carefully before trying to activate it. "I think," he said slowly, "That it's picking up latent residue from her on me. And that's why it's going off."

The crazy man's eyebrows shot up into what would have been his hairline, had he had any there left, as it at all receded back a good 5 inches on his head. "So you've seen her? Is she pretty!?"

Freed snorted, "More beautiful than any other."

The man grinned and danced around in a small circle. "I can't wait to meet her. Here, hand it over and I'll call her!"

Freed eyed the man warily before handing the small device over. He didn't trust the man, but if his hunch was correct and it was this man's machine that had been calling Willow to their world in the first place, he'd do just about anything to get her back.

The man took the device and fiddled with it for a few seconds before he pressed one final button and a white light engulfed the entire guildhall.

When the light finally receded, Freed blinked, trying to clear the dark spots from his vision and tried to refocus as there was a new person standing between them. As his vision cleared and he could finally see familiar brown curls, he nearly wept with relief as he threw his arms around a very surprised Willow and dragged her against his weary body.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N** **:** I know I promised 2k. But I got close. And I like to close on fluffy moments. I might do an epilogue, I might not. Tell me in the comments what you would like. Thank you for the reviews: _BlackDove WhiteDove_ and _MinSugaBTS420_.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does.

* * *

Willow looked up in surprise before registering where she was and burying her face against Freed's neck. She wound her arms around his waist and hugged him back all but crying and she squeezed closer to him.

Thankfully she'd reappeared during the day this time so she actually had proper clothes on instead of her usual pajamas.

"I missed you so much," Freed whispered against her ear, his voice watery with the tears that he'd been holding back the past two weeks.

"I missed you too Freed," she said, her hushed words dancing over the sensitive skin of his neck, making him shiver in her arms.

"What in all of Fiore do you think you're doing?" asked an annoying voice from behind Willow. She didn't want to look around and see who was asking, she just wanted to stay in Freed's arms for the foreseeable future.

Freed though, had other plans, as he lifted his head and glared at the person behind her, his eyes flashing dangerously. "I'm rejoicing the fact that Willow is back, cannot you see that?" he stated, his voice laced with more poison than Cobra's body contained.

"But she's _mine_!" the voice whined. Willow decided she hated it as she turned her head to finally look behind her, still not leaving the circle of Freed's arms. She didn't like the look of the man any more than she liked his voice.

Freed hesitated. He didn't want to outright claim Willow. Sure, he had fallen hard for her and he was pretty sure that she had the same feelings, or was at least starting to. But claiming her as his in front of the whole guild? They hadn't even discussed what they were to each other in private, not like they'd had time to.  
"I belong to no one," Willow said low in a more threatening tone than even the mighty Erza could produce, "But my heart belongs to Freed, so why you think you even have a chance is beyond me."

The green haired mage's face lit up like a Christmas tree as the implications of her words dawned on him. He held her just a bit tighter, fully ignoring his team and leader as they chuckled low at his expense.

"But I made the machine the brought you here! So that means you're _mine_!" the man said, his eyes welling with unattractive tears. He looked like he was going to start throwing a temper tantrum right there on the guild floor at any minute.

Laxus sneered at the man in disgust at his infantile behavior and swiped the machine from the man's hands before he got the idea in his head to send Willow back. No one took from his family, and Willow was going to stay here in Earthland with Freed for as long as she wanted this time.

The annoying man cried out in alarm as his device was taken from him before jumping up to try and get it back as Laxus held it out of his reach. "Give it back! It's mine, It's Mine, IT'S MINE!" he squealed.

Willow had fully turned around at this point to watch the spectacle that the man was making of himself. She decided that she didn't like this man in the slightest.

"What in the hell is going on?" Willow asked, looking up at Freed, his arms still wrapped around her middle. She blushed a little at the thought but didn't move them. She wasn't quite ready to stop touching him either.

"Well, from what I gather, this man decided to build a device that would bring him a girlfriend, not understanding what all the implications could be. When he activated it for the first time, I'm assuming that's when you crossed over to our dimension. But when he didn't see results, he reset it. I'm guessing that's why you went back home. Rinse, lather, repeat the process until his machine happened to catch the magical residue you left on me. We convinced him to activate it again. My hunch paid off and you appeared before us."

Willow nodded a bit, wondering exactly how this was going to affect the story line. After a moment to think it over, she decided she didn't care. She was here with Freed and her old world be damned. She smiled and snuggled back against Freed as they watched the annoying man try and take his device back.

The man eventually gave up jumping around and stood still before stomping his foot. "THAT IS MY DEVICE AND MY FUTURE WIFE AND YOU WILL HAND THEM BOTH OVER NOW!"

"Future wife?" Willow yelped, "No way in hell. Nuh-uh, no thank you."

The man finally looked towards her finally and his eyes grew wide as her took her in. Willow felt her skin crawl under his gaze. "He was right," the man whispered, "You are more beautiful than anything." Willow had to fight back the urge to recoil in disgust. "Please, allow me to introduce myself properly," the man said, bowing to her, "My name is Julius T. Kraven, your future husband."

Willow shook her head violently, "I already told you, no way in hell I'm marrying you."

But Julius wasn't listening to her as his eyes glazed over and he appeared to be looking over her shoulder, but lost in his own thoughts. "Oh, we'll make such beautiful babies with how pretty you are. A son first, we'll name him Thaddaeus after my middle name…."

Willow did recoil this time, Freed's arms squeezing around her middle protectively. "Ew, gross, no way. You're out of your mind if you think I'd willingly sleep with you."

That seemed to shake Julius out of his daydreams and he blinked, looking at Willow again. "You will marry me and bear my children, or I will send you back to whatever distant land you came from," he said with a small growl that had every Dragon Slayer in Fairy Tail growling back. Even Natsu, who had returned to the guild with Lucy after smelling Willow's scent once more.

Julius looked around and gulped audibly at the sheer magical force that was stacked against him.

"You and what army, little man?" said Gajeel as he stood and made his way over to stand just a little bit behind Laxus, Natsu and Wendy joining him moments later.

Four Dragon Slayers against one little man, with or without magic, Freed thought, _It should be interesting to see how he thinks he will walk out of here with Willow, especially since Laxus still had his device_.

"Here, Freed, disable this thing permanently will ya?" Laxus asked as he went to toss the machine in question over Julius's head at Freed. Freed had reached out to catch it but Julius jumped up to grab it instead. But his fingers only managed to bat it off course and it went sideways, landing on the ground and skittering across the guildhall before coming to at stop at the feet of the First Master and Makarov.

Makarov reached down and picked the device up, examining it. Julius made a move to rush the Master ad get his device back but before he could get one step away, Laxus had picked him up by the back of his shirt.

"You're not going anywhere," Laxus said evenly before looking to his Gramps.

"I think," Master said, looking up at all of his children, "That I should contact the Magic Council. After all, this man has basically been kidnapping Willow every time he activates this infernal thing." He looked around before spotting Lucy standing next to Levy. "Lucy, my dear, I think your spirit Virgo would be good at tying this man up until the Magic Council can send out someone to collect him, yes?"

Lucy nodded and grinned before calling for her maid spirit who made quick work of incapacitating the man and stashing him in a back room to await the Council. Master Makarov in the meantime had used a communications lacrima to contact the authorities and inform them of Julius' crimes before stashing the machine in his office for safe keeping.

Master then returned to his usual spot on top of the bar and called for everyone's attention, Mavis sitting down at his feet, swinging her bare feet back and forth happily. "Alright brats, we finally have all our nakama back, so let's PARTY!"

The entire guild erupted in cheers and Mira made her rounds with alcohol. Willow took, a seat at the bar next to Makarov and Mavis, grinning happily at them as Freed sat down next to her.

"Thank you Master, First," she said, leaning back a little against Freed.

"It was no trouble at all, my dear. I hope you'll consider staying here in Earthland, possibly with Fairy Tail? Where a certain green haired mage usually makes an appearance?" the Master said, grinning at Willow.

Willow and Freed both blushed and went to reply but the guild's resident female drunk beat her to the punch.

"Wait a minute, how can she see the First Master? Far as we know, she's not even a mage let alone a member of Fairy Tail!" Cana shouted, leering at the girl.

The guild went quiet as they processed the card mage's words. How had she seen the First Master indeed.

Willow blushed even more before reaching down and slipping off her sock and shoe from her right foot. "Well, seeing how you all know I'm from a different dimension now, guess I can tell you. In my world Fairy Tail is just a story, but there's a huge following for it." She turned her ankle to face the guild, showing off the dark green Fairy Tail guild emblem tattooed on her ankle. "I got it after I went back for the first time. But I didn't think it would actually allow me to see the First Master."

Everyone's gazes immediately went to the small mage in question who just shrugged her shoulders. "I guess that mean's you're Fairy Tail nakama where ever you are," she stated simply and another round of cheers went up from around the guild.

"Well Willow," Freed said gently, blushing, "Would you like to join Fairy Tail, stay here on Earthland, in Fiore….with me?"

Willow grinned and leaned in to kiss his nose, setting his face aflame all the way to the tips of his ears, "I'd like nothing better."

* * *

 **A/N:** I'd like to thank a few lovely writers who gave me the courage to try my hand at writing here. **ErzaDLaw, GemNika, Marsfish, leoslady4ever** and **Desna.** Reading from the greats helped bolster my confidence.

I love all of your stories, and I look forward to reading more.


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